


Signed with Love

by Rosemunde



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Deaf Character, Deaf Clint Barton, F/M, possible canon divergence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-02
Updated: 2015-09-28
Packaged: 2018-04-02 13:55:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 27,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4062493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosemunde/pseuds/Rosemunde
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clint Barton never intended on falling in love, hell he never intended ever thinking he could fall in love. Yet, somehow he managed to, and it was a difficult slope. Time had done him some good, and maybe it was time to embrace the unknown. Finn Bateleur is a girl who is ignored most of her life and after a botched extraction process and a secret agent saving her life, maybe it was time for her to embrace the unknown as well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first story actually being posted after arguing with myself about 5,000,000,000 times. Please be gentle and there will probably be new stuff added depending on how well this is received. Just please, be gentle considering this is my first go at actually getting my stuff out there instead of being hidden in notebooks under my bed. Hopefully someone enjoys it and thanks for taking the time out of your life to read it.

Clint Barton never intended on falling in love, hell he never intended ever thinking he could fall in love. Yet, somehow he managed to, and it was a difficult slope. Time had done him some good, and maybe it was time to embrace the unknown. 

Two Years Earlier

Clint Barton stood in the firing range of S.H.I.E.L.D. testing out his new bow. The nerds in the weapon department had made a lighter fiberglass one and hopefully like the last one it would last just as long. The other one lasted for a while, until Bobbi decided that she needed to break it because he refused to let her have it in the divorce. She was a selfish woman who only wanted his stuff to be a an inconvenience. He was glad whenever she got nothing and the judge told her off. That was a good day.  
“Barton, the Director wants you.” One of the new lackeys spoke, carrying around his fancy shmancy clipboard.  
Clint walked to the elevator and hit the top floor button. He hated going up there, that usually meant he was getting reprimanded for something or shipped off somewhere. He would have to figure out if one of the neighbors could keep Lucky until he got back. Again.  
The elevator dinged and he got out. He stood there noticing the Director had his back to him. “What did I do now sir?”  
“Nothing yet, should I be concerned?” Director Fury turned around. for being a quiet sullen man, his silence said more than his actual words. “You're being shipped out on a mission.”  
“I just got back from Qatar three days ago.” He sighed, highly annoyed at him. For being a good guy he certainly was a pain in the ass.  
“If it wasn't urgent I wouldn't be asking you.” He held up a file. “I need an extraction done.”  
“Who is the intended target?” Clint asked, opening up the file.  
“Finn Bateleur. Age 20. She is the daughter of the head of a very nasty government organization. He has turn coated and the people who he used to work for are on his trail. He's worried they'll come after her and due to her condition, he feels like without our help she'll die.” Fury spoke, his voice smoothing the tension in the air.  
“Condition?” Clint raised an eyebrow, not really catching on.  
“Finn was born deaf. She has no hearing whatsoever. So, if some guy busts in and decides to hurt her, she has no forewarning about it. Wheels up in 15. You're dismissed.” Fury waved his hand and the elevator doors opened.  
Clint stepped backwards into the elevator, not really happy about the whole entire thing. He wasn't happy about having to be shipped out, having to babysit some girl, and definitely not excited for the damn mission in front of him. He was off to Salzburg, Austria, which would be alright if it wasn't the dead middle of winter there. “Guess I better pack warm clothes.” He growled, trudging to his locker. Back on the road again.  
“You alright there?” Natasha, his friend, and fellow coworker asked, noticing the tense look on his face.  
“Oh, just living the dream. Back out into another mission.” He shoved stuff in a backpack.  
“Don't tell me you get to do the extraction.” She looked at him. “Lucky! I've been trying for weeks!”  
“Speaking of Lucky-”  
“Yes, I'll keep him while you're gone.” She giggled. “Don't worry, I won't give him any puppy ice cream again.”  
“Please don't, last time I had to rip up the carpet.” He hustled to the hangar so he could get aboard his home for the next 15+ hours. He wasn't happy about it, but the faster he got there, the faster he would be back home to have fun with his wonderful pup Lucky.

SALZBURG

The plane touched down finally after what seemed like forever. Clint was to get off, head to the hotel and meet up with his liaison, Nikolai. Nikolai was an old friend and a constant partner in his missions in Europe.  
When he arrived at the hotel Nikolai was already waiting in his room. “Nice to see you've made yourself at home.” Clint remarked, dropping his bag on the floor.  
Nikolai looked over at him, his dark green eyes twinkling with the German beer he had ingested only moments before. “Hallo my friend. Long time of no seeing.”  
“Where is the rendezvous point?” Clint went into the bathroom, starting his shower.  
“The opera house.” Nikolai downed another bottle of beer. “German beer isn't as strong as I think.”  
“The opera house?” Clint raised an eyebrow, “That makes no sense.”  
“There is big party going on tonight there. Lots of rich people there. Lots and lots of money.” Nikolai stood up, already wearing a tuxedo.  
“Oh no, no. Barton doesn't wear tuxedos.” Clint sighed.  
“You need it. They will not let you in without proper dress.”  
Clint got dressed, even more unhappy that he was going to be on a mission and miserable in a tuxedo as well. “Is my mark going to be there?”  
“Yes, with her interpreter who is one of your peoples. Gretchen Higgins?” Nikolai looked at him.  
Clint turned around, “How do I look?”  
“Like respectable man.” Nikolai chuckled, “Just behave and no shoosting in the opera house.”  
They got in a dark SUV and were soon at the opera house which was a feat in and of itself. It looked like a giant, grand castle in the middle of the city. The duo headed inside and Nikolai was soon looking for the mark. “Do you know what she looks like?”  
Clint tried to recall. “Tallish, dark short hair, large square black glasses, cinnamon colored eyes, four freckles on her left arm-”  
“There!” Nikolai pointed to Finn. “You have good eyes cowboy.”  
Clint followed Nikolai's pointing finger. He was a little in awe. The picture he had been given did her no justice. She was absolutely stunning, down to the dark violet Grecian style gown that she had been wearing. “Whoa.....”  
“Easy cowboy. Now we find the talker.” Nikolai led him through the maze of people. He found Gretchen, the interpreting agent. “Wilkommen!” Nikolai beamed putting a hand on Gretchen's shoulder.  
Gretchen turned around, “Nikolai! Hello there!” Gretchen blushed at the sight of him. “Long time no see.” She looked at Finn.  
Finn looked at her interpreter, unsure of what was going on. Her hands started forming her language at a rapid rate.  
“What is she asking?” Nikolai questioned.  
“She's asking who you are and what is going on.” Gretchen looked at Clint. “Are you waiting for something or what?”  
“Huh? Oh, I was just looking around. It's a beautiful place.” Clint spoke, trying to seem inconspicuous. “Is she aware of what is going on?”  
“She knows. She just wants to see her father before she goes and that can't happen.” Gretchen sighed. “Louis Bateleur was killed this morning during a raid. I haven't told Finn yet because the man up there in the balcony has had his eyes on her all night. That's Ozkar Straviniski, the highest ranked sharp shooter they have.”  
Finn tapped Gretchen's shoulder, her fingers moving swiftly to keep asking where her father was. 'He promised to see me before I have to go.'  
'I know Finn, I have no clue where he is. I need you to go with Nikolai and Clint now.' Gretchen signed back, knowing Finn was getting agitated. “Look guys, we have like five minutes before she decides to leave.”  
“I'm not dealing with princess attitudes.” Clint looked at Gretchen. “Tell her we have to leave, now.”  
Gretchen quickly signed what he had said and Finn responded with a not so lady-like hand gesture. She had enough of the run around with these people.  
'Where is my father.' Finn signed, completely pissed off. 'There is something you won't tell me and I am not happy.'  
'GO WITH NIKOLAI AND CLINT NOW.' Gretchen signed, completely done with Finn's childish behavior.  
Finn frowned but looked at Clint.  
“She's ready now. I told her that she had to go with you two. Please be careful with her, she's never been out in the world.” Gretchen hugged Finn. 'Goodbye old friend.' Gretchen signed one last time before firing off a shot in the air.  
Clint grabbed Finn and carried her off to the SUV waiting in front of the opera house. “GO GO GO GO GO!” He yelled at the driver knowing the sharp shooter and his band a merry crack shots would be on their asses ASAP.  
Finn looked at him confused and utterly terrified. She was in a car with a strange man barreling down the street at an alarmingly fast rate.  
Clint grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. “Look at me.” He spoke slowly, hoping she could read his lips. “My name is Clint, I am supposed to get you to safety. Do you understand?”  
Finn nodded, that being the only way of communication between them. She sighed knowing this would be a very quiet car ride.  
“I regret to inform you your father was killed and there are men after you.” He spoke again, making sure to leave enough space between words.  
Finn's bottom lip quivered. Papa was dead and she couldn't even utter how she felt to the man who was sitting across from her. She buried her face in his chest, sobbing off what make up Gretchen had put on her.  
Clint gently hugged her, not wanting to make this awkward or to seem like he didn't care. Women and crying didn't really mix with him.  
Finn held onto him, knowing that she was really, truly alone. She wanted nothing more than to be able to communicate with her traveling companion, but there were worse ways to spend a car ride.  
They arrived at the second rendezvous point, another dark SUV waiting for them. Clint looked at Finn. “You have to follow me ok?”  
She nodded ad held his hand tightly. She was terrified and in need of someone to keep her a little bit safe. They carefully got out of the car, Clint watching everything around them. He turned half a second too late. There was a shot and before he could pull her out of the way, Finn was hit right in the side. She gasped, the noise only being audible to Clint, the side of her dress soaking up the blood that was pouring out of her.  
“HEY HEY HEY, LOOK AT ME.” He said sternly. “KEEP YOU EYES ON ME.” He pulled a gun from the back of his waistband and started firing at the unknown shooter.  
Finn grabbed his sleeve, terrified and wanting some sort of explanation. 'I want to go home.' She mouthed hoping he understood.  
“I know dear, but I can't let you out of my sight.” He spoke, reloading his gun and starting firing again. “Just give me- GOT HIM.” He got her into the next SUV and started playing medic. “Is there any sort of medical gear in this thing?!”  
“Under the seat.” The gruff driver spoke swerving through cars sitting still.  
Clint dug under the seat and found a first aid kit. He looked at Finn. “You may want to keep your eyes shut for this dear.”  
Finn nodded and thought of home and of everything she was leaving behind as a fugitive now. She thought about her father and how he was gone and how she was now officially all on her own. Life was going to get scary.  
Clint did his best as a makeshift nurse. He had sewn up his own wounds before, and Tasha was always his partner in most things so he had her to baby him through being hurt as well. This was different though, something about having to fix her was tugging on his heart, and it scared him.  
“We're here agent.” The driver said as they stopped in front of one of the Quinjets. “Do you need any help?”  
“Yeah, get her into the jet.” Clint spoke, his hands and shirt soaked in blood.  
The driver carefully got her into the jet where Natasha and a few others were waiting. Clint followed soon afterwards.  
“What did you do?!” She gasped, seeing the blood.  
“Unknown shooter as soon as we got out of the first car. She needs a hospital now.” He said, sitting down. “So much blood.”  
“Where's Gretchen?”  
“She caused a diversion. We have no way to communicate with her without Gretchen. She answers to nods, and can mouth words, but there's no way on either side to fully understand.” He looked at Natasha.  
“So there is no way for us to know what exactly she's thinking or wanting to say. That's just great, really great.” Natasha sighed.  
“Look, all the bases were loaded, and we had no batters ok? So just phone Fury and tell him we have her.” Clint reclined in his seat and sighed.  
Finn laid there, half asleep, half awake. The blood loss starting to play against her.  
“We're going to have to stop in Frankfurt to get her proper medical attention until we can get her back to base.” Natasha urged.  
“Alright.” Clint went to the pilot and told her. She nodded and started the course change. Clint turned around and watched Finn closely in case of any sudden turns for the worst.

NOW

Clint sat in the doctor's office trying to not dodge him as he eased his new hearing aids into his ears. “How do they feel Mr. Barton?”  
“Annoying and bulky.” He spoke, not happy about having to have them. Due to an unfortunate accident he was now rendered deaf until further notice. Which was a huge problem, considering he depended on all senses to get him through each and every single day.  
“Well, at first they'll feel this way. After all while they'll just become part of your everyday life. Now, they are waterproof, but please do not lose them.” He instructed like Clint was a clueless 5 year old.  
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I understand.” He got up. “Oh boy.”  
“Yeah, that can happen sometimes. You should find some friends who are in the same boat. I have the number of a Deaf Support Group if you want it.”  
“Sure doc, why not.” he sighed, feeling like his day couldn't get any worse.  
“As luck would have it, they meet tonight. I think tonight is music night so you are in for a treat.” He handed over a card that had a number and address on it.  
“Music? Really?” He raised an eyebrow. “Alright, if you say so.” He took the card, not amused and went on about his day. 

Five pm rolled around, the time the meeting was due to start. Clint sighed and drove to the little building a few blocks from the hearing doctor. He got out of his car, completely ready to just stay inside of it and went inside.  
Inside of the building there were quite a few people, young, old, really old, people his age, and one familiar face. She was at the refreshment table her hands moving as fast as the wind in New Mexico during a sandstorm. Finn Bateleur, who he never thought he would ever see again. “Holy shit....” He breathed, suddenly feeling self conscious about the ripped jeans he was wearing. It was laundry day and he was just not into trying to find jeans that actually looked halfway decent. He instantly regretted that decision once seeing her.  
She looked around the room and saw him. A smile spread across her face seeing him once more. She politely finished the conversation she was in and walked over to him.  
“Small world.” He awkwardly chuckled.  
She looked at him. 'How have you been?' She mouthed, still signing as well.  
“Alright, I uhh...” He pointed to his ears.  
She giggled. 'One of us, one of us.' She looked at her watch and waved at everyone to sit down. She pulled Clint along and sat him the chair next to her. She looked at everyone and started her introduction. 'Hello everyone, and thank you for coming to the meeting tonight. As we all know, all of us have varying degrees of deafness and that is ok. My name is Finn Bateleur, I was born deaf, and that does not define me. So, before we all get weepy, let's meet the new arrivals.' She looked at Clint.  
He awkwardly looked at her, unsure. He stood up and gave a small wave. “H-Hi, my name is Clint Barton, I wasn't born deaf, but I am recently deaf.” He looked at Finn who was signing everything her had said as he had said it.  
She smiled, and gave him a continue motion. She looked at all the other people in the group.  
Clint sighed, “I have only ever met one other deaf person in my life and she is sitting next to me signing everything I say. I now realize just how difficult this is and I am just very sorry for not understanding at the time we had originally met.”  
Finn looked at him, a little bit shocked. No one had ever been that nice to her about anything, especially when it came to her disability.


	2. Continuing On

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finishing the meeting, and learning new things about each other. Coffee dates, Tony Stark to throw a wrench into things, just a typical day in the life. There's also a few sweet moments, but not without some mystery thrown in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for ending on such an awkward spot. I now realize what a pain it may be to leap back into it and read on. I may have to go back and fix that or it will bother me to no end. Still trying to figure this out. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the next installment and hopefully you reading it is just as fun as me writing it. Enjoy!

Clint looked at the floor feeling a little bit of shame. “I should go. I don't belong here.” He started to walk away.  
Finn grabbed his hand before he had taken another step. She didn't want him to leave, she had so much to tell him.  
Rory, one of the other first members directed everyone's attention to one of the TVs that was on the wall for a movie distraction. He gave Finn a go on gesture, wanting her to have a talk with Clint.  
Finn pulled him outside, and shut the door. She wasn't ready for him to leave. Not again, not after the first time. There was still so much left unsaid on her side, she'd tell him somehow, someway.  
“Look Finn, I don't belong here with you guys. I'm not like you.” He spoke, feeling like a fraud. “I can talk and hear with these things, I can't even talk to you because we don't even speak the same language. I can talk all I want, but there is no real way for us to communicate, at all.”  
Finn dug around in her bag and pulled out a tablet. She tapped on the screen and opened up a file on it. She started typing something that read it out loud as she went. “That is a load of horse poop and you know it.” The tinny robot voice spoke.  
“Who taught you how to use that?!” He looked bewildered. He didn't even know there was a piece of software out there that even did that.  
Finn started typing again “I took some inheritance money and started finding ways to be able to communicate. I do happen to be a little bit smart.”   
“I never said you weren't. I just didn't think-”  
“Clearly”  
He sighed feeling like he was digging himself into a deeper hole. “Look, would you maybe wanna have coffee or something sometime? I just feel overwhelmed by all of this and I don't wanna distract you or your friends ok?”  
“Coffee sounds fine. Meet me tomorrow at 5, big building downtown.” She quickly scribbled down her number, gave a nod and went back inside to the meeting.  
Clint walked to his car and kicked the left front tire. “First time seeing her in two years and you turn into a giant chicken. Good goin' Barton.” He got in and drove home, his only nice thought being coffee and trying to figure out how not to embarrass himself. Again.

~~Coffee~~

Clint circled the block about ten times before giving up and texting the number on the card Finn had given him. I have circled this block forever. The only big building is Stark Tower.  
He waited a few minutes and his phone buzzed with a response.  
Yes, that is the big building I described yesterday. Top floor. Finn had responded back.  
“Oh you gotta be kidding me. I gotta deal with this clown?” He grumbled, swerving into a parking spot and hustling into the building. He hit the elevator button to go up and waited. He stepped in and before the doors could close, someone shoved their ugly tennis shoe into the door space making them fly open again.   
“Well look at who has walked into my building.'” Tony Stark stood next to him, gloating. “What brings you to my lovely tower?” He pressed the top floor button.  
“None of your business Stark.” Clint spoke, not wanting to even breathe the same air as him. After Tony pulled his little stunt of having a showdown with Ivan Vanko in Flushings, and him ending up being the babysitter of the whole clean up squad after Tony's meeting with Fury, he was lucky Clint was too occupied with not getting an assault charge on him.   
“You have to be here for a reason, otherwise Happy would've bounced you out of here Robin Hood. So, spill or I'll do it myself.” Tony halted the elevator on the 25th floor.   
“Finn Bateleur. I'm supposed to meet her for coffee.” He spoke, pressing the resume button.  
Tony snorted and started to laugh. “Finn? I've been trying to schedule an after work meeting with her for a while now, if you know what I mean.”  
“Say something like that again and I'll carve out your eyeball with my pinky nail.” Clint clenched his fist in his pocket, not happy at all with this whole set up.   
“Does someone have a crush? Awwwwww Clint and Finn sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-” Tony gagged as Clint wrapped his hand around his throat.  
The doors opened and Finn stood outside them, her mouth wide open at the sight.   
Clint immediately let go and cleared his throat. He gave an awkward wave, exceedingly embarrassed at how he had been caught.  
“Anyway,” Tony looked at Clint, “Finn is our communications liaison. How do you think I get to speak to people all over the world.”  
“Well, you seem to be the man who knows everything.” Clint rolled his eyes.  
“While that may be true, it is not so.” He looked at Finn. “She got an internship here, due to Pepper having a bleeding heart, and I'm glad I actually sort of listened for once. Finn came in with the idea of translation software for not only people with hearing disabilities, but for people all over the world, and others with other disabilities. They do say communication is key, and with this being dispersed everywhere conversations will happen without any barriers or worries. The software even adapts the speech pattern of the typer, and with a gigantic choice of accents and dialects there will be an amazing change to the common ways of speaking. Isn't this pretty cool? But of course someone like you wouldn't know cool if it bit you on the-”  
Finn snapped her fingers, a little irked by both of them. She rapidly typed something and it started to read. “Both of you knock it off. You look like two five year olds on a play ground fighting over the same swing. Stop and actually get your heads out of your butts.”  
“Sorry Finn.” They said in unison, followed by immediate scowling at each other.  
Finn grabbed her bag and typed something else. “Come on Clint before he busts out the wine and Barry White. Again.”  
“Hey! That was a joke that one time!” Tony growled, not liking the idea of his attempt to seduce her being known.  
Clint followed her laughing. “Barry White, how old is this guy?”   
Finn pulled out her phone and looked at the messages on her screen. There was one from Rory, one from the doctor, and another from an unknown number. She deleted it and shoved the phone into her bag to focus on Clint.  
“How did you know about the Barry White?” Clint inquired, naturally curious.  
“I had worn sandals one day and I could feel the beat of the music through them.” She typed, nonchalantly.   
“Alright then, that will never be an image I can scrub from my brain. Thanks a lot there.” He chuckled.   
Finn rolled her eyes.  
“Oh come on, that was funny.”  
The elevator doors opened and they stepped out. Finn pointed to the little coffee shop that had been built into the tower as well. She smiled at the worker behind the counter.  
“Hi Finn, the usual?” Maggie, the worker spoke, Clint noticing her name on her name tag.  
Finn nodded and pointed to a sandwich.   
“Ah, good choice. Just made this one a few minutes ago actually. Mr. Stark alerted me to do so.” Maggie handed her the sandwich and made her a black coffee, adding four sugars and cream to it as well. “And you sir?”  
“Uhhh, just a plain black coffee please.” He responded, unsure of what else Tony had alerted her to.  
Maggie handed over the coffee. “Have a lovely day you two.”  
Finn picked a booth in the far left corner and sat down. She set her tablet down and gave a small sigh of relief. 'Long day.' She mouthed, opening the plastic case containing her sandwich.  
“Tell me about it.” Clint said, watching her.   
She started to type on the tablet when Clint grabbed her hand. She raised an eyebrow.   
“Not like that. Could you maybe... sign it?” He asked, feeling a little bit weird about asking.  
Finn nodded, setting her sandwich down. She looked at him and held up her hands. 'Well, today I had meetings all day, and then I had to have a sit down with the investors about how the marketing for the software would work, and how exactly the settings would be. It was a lot of work. I was very glad whenever you showed up because someone else wanted a meeting.' She signed slower than she usually would to make sure he knew what she was saying.  
“I'm sorry you had a busy day. I'm glad I got to see you as well.” He smiled, Finn noticing how tired he looked.  
'You ok?' She asked, watching his facial expressions.  
“I was up half the night studying.” he spoke sheepishly. “I've been doing it all day, I wanted to make sure I understood when you were talking.”  
Finn's cheeks grew hot as her face turned ruby red. This guy was seriously worming his way into her heart and she was trying so hard not to fall for it.   
“I just want to know what you're saying. It's not fair that I don't learn if I wanna have a conversation with you.”  
Finn's eyes teared up. No one, not even her own father had ever taken the time to actually learn what she was trying to say, just relying on translators or just ignoring her in general.  
“Oh no, no what did I do?!” He started to panic a little bit. He didn't mean to make her cry, not even knowing how he managed to make her do so in the first place.  
Finn pulled herself together enough to respond. 'No one has ever taken the time out to try to learn to speak with me.'   
Clint handed her a napkin. “I just wanted to try to do better than me 2 years ago is all. I'm sorry for you tearing up and stuff. I didn't mean to make you cry.”  
Before Finn could respond Clint's phone buzzed on the table top. She took a sip of her coffee and excused herself to the bathroom. Her phone buzzed in her pocket as well. She pulled it out to see a picture message from someone. She opened it to see a picture of her through the glass in Stark Tower. 'WE HAVE UNFINISHED BUSINESS.' The caption read. Panic welled in her chest and she leaned over the toilet just in time. She cleaned herself up after a few moments and returned to the table.  
“I have to get to work, there's been an emergency.” Clint spoke, then instantly stopped. “What's wrong?”  
Finn held up her phone, shaking and completely scared out of her mind. This was the same feeling she had 2 years ago whenever they had met.  
“Oh no...” He stuck his phone to his ear. “Director, we have a situation on our hands. Uh huh, yes sir, alright I will.” He hung up and looked at Finn. “We have to go now.”  
'What's going on?' She signed rather shakily. She had her fill of mysterious weirdos and the scared feeling she had still nagging at her in the back of her head.   
“You need to come with me. Right now, this is far worse than I imagined.” He grabbed her hand. “Don't worry, it's just like old times.”  
Finn nodded, not excited about that idea. She didn't want to go, and yet felt entirely safe with him. Wherever they were headed she was sure that it wouldn't be as bad as her brain was making it seem. There had to be safety right?


	3. Old Wounds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Safety is Clint's number one priority at the moment. His safety, Finn's safety, his car's safety. Unexpected obstacles are bound to pop up, along with some forgotten characters from Finn's past. The end is near, but can everything be saved before quitting?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long for a new chapter, I got distracted and then work happened. Hopefully I can be a little more consistent with updates depending on how far I want this story to go. So far, so good. Enjoy!

Finn quietly sat in the car with Clint as he drove. She didn't recognize anything that was around them. Everything looked so remote and scary, like one of those conspiracy movies whenever there is talks of aliens and stuff. She looked at her hand and noticed he was still holding onto it. She didn't mind it too much, it made her feel safe and like she was being cared for.   
“Can you remember anything from 2 years ago?” He asked, still watching the road in front of himself. “Certain people your father knew, old family friends, anything?”  
Finn sat there thinking for a minute and recalled one person in particular that seemed to make an impression on her when she was younger. 'There was always this guy who showed up at my home every single Wednesday. Papa said he was there for euchre, but something always seemed off. I always felt thumping around and then he would leave. I wouldn't see Papa for days and then he would appear and act as if nothing had happened.' She signed, her hands a flurry of signs and movement.   
“Slow it down, I didn't get part of that.” He spoke, unsure if she would get mad or not. “I got up until euchre, then you lost me.”  
She repeated everything, a bit annoyed at having to repeat herself. 'Got it now? Cause if I have to repeat myself one last time I will shove my tablet-'  
Clint slammed on the brakes as someone stood nearly a foot away from them in front of the car. “You gotta be kidding me...” He growled, not ready to stop his car, and start a face to face combat.  
Finn dug around in her bag and pulled out a gun. She handed it to him and waited.   
Clint looked at her, “Why do you have a gun? You know what, I don't even care.” He leaned out the car window and started firing.  
Finn grabbed the steering wheel as he pressed down on the gas. She may have known how to do a lot of things, but driving was not one of them.   
The person in the road dove to the side as they blazed past them, looking like a secret ninja in an unknown army.  
Clint drove faster than what was actually recommended on the signs they passed. He was in a rush to get back to base before someone else popped up out of the damn road somewhere. He looked at Finn and noticed how pale she was. “Don't worry, haven't been in an accident in almost 18 months. And even then that was not my fault. The tank just wouldn't stop.” He shrugged. “Just a typical Tuesday for me that day.”  
Finn looked out the window and sighed. She was tired of everything, tired of staying on the run from everything, tired of being away from home, tired of being alone, just tired period. There had been a great many things weighing in on her mind, and life was starting to catch up to her.   
Clint looked at her. “ You alright? You seem a little bit down and stuff.”  
She shrugged her shoulders, and gave a so-so motion.   
“What's the story morning glory?” He asked, taking a slow left turn onto an empty and more desolate looking road.   
She started typing, too tired to sign. “Have you ever just had one of those moments where your life starts to catch up with you?”  
“All the time, why?” He took a sharp right turn. “Sorry.”  
“I'm just having one of those moments. I miss home, I miss having all my friends in Salzburg, I wish I had someone to go home to, I'm tired of running away from the monsters.” The tinny robot voice resonated throughout the car.  
“It'll get better, besides, I have no one at home. Well, my dog but that's besides the point.”  
“You have a dog?!” The tin voice screeched recognizing the severity of the punctuation.  
“Ow, yes I have a dog. His name is Lucky.” Clint adjusted the volume on his hearing aids.  
“I always wanted a dog but papa would never let me have one. He said it was too much work and that it was pointless for me to ever have one.” Finn looked a bit sad while typing it.  
“Well, when all of this is settled, why don't you and me go on like a vacation? I'm sure that would be beneficial to us both.”   
“And the dog?!”  
“Ow, yes he can come too.” He slowly eased on the brakes and came to a complete stop in an empty dirt field.  
“Where are we?” She typed in.  
“Just follow me and watch your step.” He got out of the car and went to her side. Clint opened the door and held out his hand.  
Finn grabbed it and carefully got out, cautious of whatever could be in the dirt waiting to eat her. She looked at him and waited.  
Clint stood on a small spot and pulled her close. He was nearly nose to nose with her. “Watch this.” He wrapped his free arm around her waist, making sure she was close enough.  
The ground beneath them started to retract down under the ground around them, leading down to an underground base not even the best operatives knew about.  
Finn's grip on his hand got tighter as they went lower into the ground. This was weird and something out of a spy novel.   
“Pretty neat huh?” He chuckled.  
She looked around at all the moving people and parts. There was so much going on, so many different faces blurring by, it was a lot to take in. She held his hand tighter.  
“Don't be afraid, no one here will hurt you. This is a safe place for you, until everything gets fixed, you're going to stay here.” He stepped off the platform.  
Finn followed him, still looking around at everything. She had spent so many years tucked away in the home where she grew up in that everything that unfolded around her seemed like a dream, or some sort of plot from a book in real life.   
“What is she doing here?” Director Fury asked, pointing to Finn.  
“She may be able to help out.” Clint looked at her. “Finn Bateleur, this is my boss, Nick Fury.”  
“You do realize her last name is a bird right?” Fury spoke, rolling his eyes. He already had too many birds perched in his nest of S.H.I.E.L.D. “It's a species of eagle in Sub-Saharan Africa. I thought you would pick that up.”   
“Wh-What?” Clint looked a little bit confused.   
Finn typed in something on her tablet. “Food?”  
“Cafeteria is over there.” Fury pointed. “It's got whatever you want in there. I would stay away from the meatloaf, Munsen made it and if you value your insides don't.” He walked away, an air of mystery about him.  
Finn poked Clint's cheek. “FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOODDD” She had typed as she did so.  
“Ok, ok. Food.” He led her to the cafeteria. “What do you eat?” He waited for a response. He turned around to see she had completely disappeared. “Finn? Finn?!”   
Meanwhile Finn had wandered off into the maze of hallways and was in awe of all the strange things that she saw through windows. There was a giant tentacle in one room, three feet away there was a jet pack in another, down a little bit there was a sealed off room with 'DO NOT ENTER' written in big letters on the door. She looked to see it needed a card to be swiped through it. Before she could try anything someone grabbed her arm rather roughly.   
“What do you think you're doing!!” A tall man with dark hair and dark green eyes yelled.  
Her eyes went wide with terror thinking that this was the end for her.   
“Hey!” Clint yelled. “Back off Vergos!”  
“She doesn't have clearance.” Vergos snapped, his grip tightening on her arm.  
Finn looked at Clint. She was scared, and sorry, but mostly scared.   
“Alright, that's enough. She knows she did something wrong, just let her go. You're scaring her.” Clint warned him, not wanting to start anything.  
“What's your name.” Vergos looked at her, his eyes scary with power. He looked familiar, she just couldn't place where exactly.   
“Her name is Finn Bateleur, she's under my protection, now let her go or I will have to inform the director.” Clint tapped his foot, one second away from knocking him out.  
Vergos finally let her go, “Next time bird boy won't be around to save you.” He walked away, his boots thunking against the linoleum floor.  
Clint hugged her. “Don't wander off like that again. Had I not found you I have no clue what would have happened. Just...Just stay next to me at all times ok?”  
Finn nodded, sniffling.   
“It's going to be alright. No tears necessary.” Clint looked at her, waiting for a response.  
Finn gasped. Vergos' identity finally clicking in her head. She looked at Clint. 'Where did he come from.'  
“Greece I think, why?” Clint looked at her, wondering what the hell was going on.  
'Bodyguard.' Finn signed looking through her bag. She pulled out a picture she had drawn a few days before trying to jog her memory on the guy who would come into her house. She found it and pulled it out. 'I always saw him whenever that man would come in and all I could remember is the way he would look at me. Like he wanted to hurt me all the time.'   
“Are you completely sure of this?” Clint grabbed the drawing. It looked exactly like Vergos, down to the scar on his lower lip.  
'Do you have big computer?' She signed, her mind starting to replay the last time she saw the man.  
“Follow me.” Clint led her to one of the offices. “Over here. Just type in my log in and it'll be of use to you.” He handed her his card and watched the door.  
Finn typed in the rather long and complex series of letters and numbers, finally gaining access to the computer. She typed in her home address from Salzburg in the hopes something would come out of it. It had been 2 years and still felt like yesterday that she had left it.   
“Anything yet?” He glanced over his shoulder at her, just for a moment before turning back to the door.  
Finn scanned through a few articles on her father's death and then gasped when she saw the man. She threw a pencil at Clint trying to get his attention.  
He turned. “Anything yet?”   
Finn pointed to the screen where a man's face was. She didn't know his name, but that face always haunted her. He was a small looking man, with green eyes, and a sneer that could melt paint off the walls.  
“I don't friggin' believe it. Do you know who that is?” He looked at her. “That's the man that was with me the night I came to get you. That's Nikolai. He can't be the guy you're remembering, maybe something got all mixed up in there.”  
Finn scowled at him, not happy with his denial. She knew who she meant, and if he didn't believe her so be it.   
“I would've known if he was a bad guy.” Clint shook his head.  
'He was always lurking around Gretchen. He looked different though.' Finn signed rather angrily and looked at him, even madder than before.   
“What do you mean?” He asked, not sure.  
Finn got up, grabbed a marker that had been lying on the desk and scribbled a big bushy beard and thicker eyebrows on the picture of Nikolai that was on the screen.'THAT'S HIM! THAT'S THE MAN WHO WOULD ALWAYS BE THERE!' She signed trying to contain the connection she had made.  
“That's why he volunteered to be my sidekick that night. And why he kinda just lurked with his back turned when you were there.” Clint started adding things up. “But what would they want with you? I mean besides your father and all that. What is so special about you that they need you.”   
Finn shrugged, not really knowing either. There wasn't any lingering need for anything to happen. She had gotten what had been allotted to her in the will and the other stuff that was her father's had been locked away until she was of age.  
Clint looked at her. “What?”   
She typed something out. “I have to return home. I know what they want.”  
“Finn,” He started to say.  
“I already know what you're going to say and it isn't going to work. I have to go back, there is something they want and I am the only person with the key.”  
“What key?” He raised an eyebrow not following what she was laying out.   
'Just trust me ok? I know what I'm doing.' She looked at him.  
“I'm not going to lose you again, ok?” Clint put his hand on her shoulder. He meant it, but deep down inside it was hard for him to admit he had grown attached to her. He knew this would come back to bite him in the ass, but at the moment he didn't care.  
She nodded, knowing he meant it. 'I have to get to it before they do, or this could get worse.'  
Clint raised an eyebrow. “ I have no idea what you have planned, but we will be leaving in 15 minutes. Grab what you need and then we're out. You follow my rules, you stay at my side, and if something happens to me you leave me behind got it?”   
She raised her hands to protest.  
Clint covered his eyes. “I don't wanna hear it.”  
Finn stood there, mouth agape. No one had ever said or done that before, and that was shocking to her.   
He uncovered his eyes, smirking. He knew he had just bested her at her own game. “Stand there with your mouth open all you want, I don't wanna hear your words of protest. It's my way or no go. Deal eagle?”  
She nodded, scowling but agreeing. She grabbed her bag and followed him to the hangar. This was it and there was no turning back now. It was either go and risk dying, or stay and risk dying, either way was a bad one to go out. At least she would be with Clint either way.


	4. Returning to the Motherland/Chances Are...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Returning to the home she had to abruptly leave, Finn is faced with not only the ghosts of her past, but an unknown understanding of what exactly was most dear to her father. Clint is stuck between a rock and his own feelings, and without the clarity to know what to follow he's a sitting duck. (All bird puns intended.) Having to ask for help has never been his strongest suit, and especially asking for help from the biggest ego driven man in the world wasn't going to help him in this aspect either. Finding what is lost is never easy, even if it means realizing the lost thing is what you covet the most. Broken bones, broken screens, and angry hawks is what good agents are made of right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has quickly become one of my favorite stories I have ever written. Some parts to me seem a little bit off, but I am my own worst critic. I hope you're enjoying this story as much as I do, and enjoy the updates as they come along. :)

Clint sat next to Finn on the Quinjet as she played some game on her tablet. He noticed her index finger kept sliding off the side of the tablet. He looked to see her starting to fall asleep. “Finn?” He gently shook her. “You wanna put that away before it gets broken?”  
She nodded sleepily. It had been a whirlwind the last few days and all the adrenaline was starting to crash out of her. She tucked the tablet back into her bag and blinked slowly.   
Clint took her glasses as well. “Get some sleep, it'll be a bit before we get there. I'll keep watch.”  
She put her head on his shoulder and started to quietly snore. She needed sleep and the quiet of the jet was the perfect space for it.  
Clint sat there battling his inner thoughts about this whole suddenly meeting again and all of the stuff that was going on. It didn't feel like a coincidence of them meeting again, it felt orchestrated by some unknown force. Divine intervention? Nah, it couldn't be, not after all the cases and strange things that had passed through the doors of S.H.I.E.L.D. There was something at work here, he just couldn't figure out what it could be.  
Six hours later the Quinjet slowed to a stop on the runway, the sun just barely setting on the horizon. It looked like a picture that you would see in National Geographic or something. The sky looked like a Monet painting, with pinks, oranges, and blues all thrown about. It was a completely perfect sight.  
Clint gently shook Finn. “Hey, come on, time to wake it up. We're here.”  
Her eyes opened, a little dried line of drool on her cheek. She had slept and snored pretty hard. She rubbed her eyes and held out her hand.  
Clint handed over her glasses and wiped her cheek. “Have a nice sleep there?”  
Finn's cheeks turned red as she put her glasses on. She hadn't meant to sleep that hard but damn it, it was needed. From the meetings, to the chases, to now this, there was a lot of sleep to catch up on. She unbuckled her belts and stood up to stretch. It had been a long ride and she was happy to get up.  
Clint grabbed her hand. “Come on, food then mission, ok?”  
She dug around in her bag and found little snacks he had “borrowed” from the cafeteria.   
“Slippery little eagle are we.” He grabbed the little bag of snack mix.  
Finn followed him, trying to keep up. He had a longer stride than she did and keeping up was harder due to his need to walk fast. She yanked on his arm.  
“Ow! What was that for?!” He stopped and looked at her.  
'Stop walking so fast! I can't keep up! It's not a race, it's walking!' She signed, scowling at him. She wasn't going to be dragged around because he wanted to rush through everything. This was the city she had to rush out of 2 years ago, and she wanted to look at any changes that had been made.  
“All right, all right. Sorry.” He apologized. “By your lead then.”  
Finn held onto his hand and walked through the city. There were new rose bushes and flower pots in the park. The municipal buildings all looked the same and the architecture was still as beautiful as the day it had been created. 'Need taxi cab.' She signed, knowing that the walk to the house would be exceedingly long.   
Clint flagged one down and got into the cab with Finn. 'Where are we going?”  
'Tell him this.' She had typed something out in German and had even spelled out how it was supposed to sound.  
The driver nodded as soon as Clint finished his sentence. He was a little looking man, with bushy eyebrows and a moustache to match.  
Finn opened her little snack bag and started eating the seeds within it. She clicked through emails and notices from her doctors and other things.  
“What's the doctor got to say?” Clint asked, noticing one that had the word PLAUSIBLE in big letters.   
Finn rubbed her hands on her tights. 'He wants to try to put implants in my ears to try to get my hearing back. He tried to talk Papa into them when I was small and Papa told him something not so nice and he stopped asking. Now he keeps asking me and I don't want them but he won't listen. Go figure.' She signed and kept eating the seeds.   
“I never knew.” He touched his hearing aids feeling a little bit gracious to be able to hear. He had been able to hear all his life and the idea of never doing so scared him, whereas the opposite completely scared her. He looked at her, a small smile on his face. “I will be your ears.”  
Finn smiled and gently touched the hearing aid tucked behind his head. 'How does it feel?'  
“Kinda itchy sometimes, but I like them. They've grown on me a little bit.” He chuckled, enjoying the little bit of conversation between them.  
The driver said something and Clint looked at Finn. “Are we here?”  
She looked outside the window and nodded. She got out and looked at the giant imposing house in front of them. The outside was very big and ostentatious, like an Austrian home should. There were huge columns by the door, three stories of floors, a wine cellar below them, the inside was even more beautiful with the art and architecture. As a child Finn never got tired of walking around the whole house feeling the different textures and decorations that were on the walls and in the halls.  
Clint looked at the house in amazement. “You grew up here?”   
She nodded and dug in her bag. She pulled out a key and walked towards the door.  
Clint grabbed her arm. “No. Not you. Me first.”  
She gave him a dirty look. She pulled out her tablet and typed. “It's been 2 years since anyone has set foot inside of it. I'm going in alone.”   
“No, you're not.” he snapped back, meaning it.  
“Yes.” She scowled and gave him a small shove. “I am. This is my house, you can wait at the door. What I need to get is just a 5 minute walk inside and then I'll be right back out. Got it?”  
Clint growled, not liking it. “Fine. If you're not back in 5 minutes I will go in there and if I have to you will be handcuffed to me until we figure the rest of this out. Got that?”  
Finn rolled her eyes and went inside. It was dark, like any abandoned home would be. She flipped her tablet around to use the screen as a flashlight. She saw a pair of dark dress shoes in front of her. Just as she looked up someone clasped a hand over her face to silence a scream. Something hard and metallic feeling was in her back. This she understood, knowing that she had been caught and that this wasn't going to end well if she did anything to stop it.  
Clint meanwhile waited outside, checking his watch every 30 seconds. He looked at the open door thinking he heard something. “Finn?” He spoke before going inside. He dug around in his pockets and found a flashlight. The noise he had heard outside was getting louder with each step.  
“Ep, Ep, Ep, Ep, Ep, Ep,Ep.” That small word was repeated over and over again. The word sounded like it was being crushed underneath something.  
Clint turned the corner to see a strap near his boot. He used his light to follow it and that's when he realized she was no where to be found. “FINN?!” He yelled, terrified. He took a step and something crunched under his foot. Using the light he pointed it at the object. Her tablet.  
“Ep, Ep, Ep, Ep, Ep, Ep,Ep.” It kept repeating. Clint picked up the tablet to see the screen smashed and the only two letters she had managed to type out before someone had taken her. He had no way of knowing how to track her, let alone where she could've gone. Clint pulled on his hair. “Stupid Barton, absolutely stupid! The first rule of partners is you don't let the other go alone, and what did you do?! You let her go because you didn't wanna feel like you were intruding. Good job buddy, real good.” He teased and harassed himself. There was only one person he could call, and he definitely didn't wanna make the call.   
Swallowing his pride he pulled out his phone and dialed the number.  
The line picked up. “Well, well, well, how the mighty have fallen. What is the problem birdy?” Tony Stark spoke, fully relishing the idea of Clint Barton calling him.  
“I have a problem.”  
“They do have pills for that you know.”  
“Can you take me serious for one minute?! Just one damn minute?! Finn is missing and I need your help!” He yelled, exasperated.  
“You wanna run that by me again. Did you just say Finn is missing?”  
“Yeah, I did. Someone must've grabbed her, and I don't know where to track her, or even how. I need you help. Just please help me.”  
Tony went silent. “You like her don't you?”  
Clint scoffed. “What? No! No, she's just...she needs someone to help her and I clearly failed at that. I'll send you the address and you just get here ASAP ok?”   
Tony sighed, “Fine. But I'm not doing it for you, I'm doing it for her.” He abruptly hung up.  
Clint looked at his phone. His only hope was Tony Stark, and the odds were not in his favor.

Finn was back in a car with the dark shoe wearing man. She quickly realized it was the man who had always been at her home, the man at the opera house, and the one Clint identified as Nikolai. He looked even more different now. He was extremely thin and gaunt looking. It was like he had been through a lifetime of torment. His eyes were full of hatred and poison, and they were aimed at Finn this particular moment.  
“You tink we are stupid do you not?” He spoke, his voice a heavy baritone, contrasting with the actual look of him.  
Finn stayed quiet, her hands tucked into her pockets. She didn't want to move, sign, or do anything that would result in some calamity happening to her.  
“You talk, or I break fingers.” He grabbed her arm rather roughly and gripped her index finger. “Now, where is Louis' stuff.”  
Finn shook her head hoping to play dumb. She thought maybe if she did, she could buy a little bit of time. She was wrong.   
Nikolai twisted her finger until she felt it snap and the pain rushed through her. Tears started streaming down her face, but no noise came from her lips. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of hearing her scream in pain.   
“You think I joke prinzessin? I say I break finger, I mean it. Now, we try again. Where. Is Louis' stuff?” He grabbed her middle finger, ready to snap it as well.  
Again, she shook her head, pretending to not know. The more she fought back, the more time it would give anyone the chance to find her.  
Once more Nikolai snapped her finger, the pain getting worse and worse. Finn knew there would be a chance she wouldn't ever live to see Nikolai be convicted, but at least this bought more time. 

Clint and Tony meanwhile tried their best to figure this out themselves. Tony scanned the whole house, hoping it would be that simple, but to no avail.  
Clint paced like an expectant father. “How are you not making any progress?! You have all this fancy crap!”  
“Maybe if you could give me 5 whole minutes I COULD CONCENTRATE!” Tony slammed his fist on the giant oak table he had his belongings on. Something underneath the table clicked and a popping noise was heard throughout the house.  
“If you unlocked a booby-trap...” Clint carefully got under the table and saw a hidden drawer. “What the hell...” he grabbed a slim file and handed it over to Tony.   
“Oh great, more clues Scooby-Doo.” He sighed, opening the file. Inside was a bunch of gibberish and then a drawing of something else. “I know that thing.”  
“What do you mean?” Clint looked at the drawing. It looked like a box, but then again it looked like a puzzle as well. “Her bag.”  
Tony picked it up and looked inside. He pulled out a little puzzle box that had a scrambled picture on each side. “CAN NOTHING BE SIMPLE WITH THESE PEOPLE?!”   
“Lemme see it.” Clint held out his hand. He had been good at puzzles as a child, and this was his moment to try to do something right. He looked at each side and took into consideration what it was. He shuffled pieces until the sides all looked like they were done properly and the back of the box opened. “You mind helping me out here?”  
Tony opened it and pulled out a small little chip. “What the hell is this?”   
“Well, I don't wanna state the obvious, but it's a microchip.”  
“Yeah genius, I figured that out. But what is it to?” He set it on one of his toys and waited. A small map appeared with a little red dot blinking on it. “What the even more hell...”  
“Whatever that dot is, it's important. I dunno what it could be, but it needs to be found.” Clint grabbed his bow and looked at Tony. “You just gonna stand there or what?”  
He rolled his eyes. “Fine.” Tony had JARVIS upload the chip and the map onto another device. “Whatever this thing is, it must be really important.”   
“Lets just hope whatever it is leads us to Finn.” Clint breathed, unsure of the diversion. He and Tony followed the dot to a location about 15 minutes from Finn's house. It was a big, desolate looking meat packing plant. They quietly and carefully went inside, watching for any goons or possible traps. Nothing was safe here, near the blinking dot.   
“How much further?” Clint whispered, barely audible.  
Tony looked up from the device and pointed. '”There.” He spoke, just as quiet.  
The source of the red blinking dot was sitting right in front of them. It wasn't a thing it was a person, the one specific person they had been trying to get back to. Finn.   
Finn looked like a bruised peach, her left hand was a mangled, swollen mess. Clint was turning into a mess by just looking at her. This was all his fault, there was no way around it. Rage welled inside him whenever Nikolai stepped in from the shadows.  
“Prinzessin, we done with one hand. Would you like to try other?” He grabbed her right hand, ready to start on the next digits.  
“You let her go you son of a bitch!” Clint stood up, adrenaline being his only means of survival now. “Don't you get it?! SHE'S THE ONE THING LOUIS WANTED TO KEEP SAFE.”  
“No, no, there is treasure to be had. I see the plans!” Nikolai protested.  
“You mean these?” Tony tossed the drawings and notes to him. “Louis drew up a puzzle box that contained this.” He flicked the chip at him. “A way to her. It was if he ever lost her. You did all this for nothing, you already found his greatest possession moron.”   
Nikolai paled. “No, no, it cannot be...” he looked for an escape.  
Clint tagged him in the knee with a stunning arrow. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and phoned it in. He calmly walked over to Finn, his everything hurting not knowing how hurt she was feeling.   
Finn looked up at him, her glasses coated inn tears, her nose streaming snot, her cheeks red from all the pain and tears.  
“It's gonna be ok.” He used his jacket sleeve to wipe her nose. “I'm here. I got you. I promise. I'm so sorry Finn, I really, really am. I am so sorry.” He apologized, trying to keep himself together.   
She was silent, no signs, no vocal noises, just completely silent. The same reaction she had displayed after she woke up in the hospital 2 years ago. Then she just stared out the window, keeping her eyes away from him. She didn't know what to say or do, she was without a voice in every single way.  
Clint put his hands on her cheeks. “The nice people are gonna take you to the hospital so the doctors can take a look at your hand.”  
At the mention of hospital Finn latched onto Clint. She didn't want to be left alone again. It had taken her 2 years to get better after he left the first time, this time he wasn't going anywhere without her. She wrapped her good arm around his neck and her legs around his torso.  
“Ok, ok, I won't let go. I promise.” He hugged her tightly, not wanting to let her feel like he was going to abandon her. He was confused about everything at the moment and especially mostly confused about the feelings he was feeling at the moment. He needed her, probably more than she needed him, but at this particular moment, that was debatable.   
Finn buried her face in his neck, her nose cold against his earlobe. She sniffled and sobbed, and held onto him tightly. There was no getting her off of him any time soon, which would make it hell for the doctors and nurses who would probably be growling as she refused to let him go. Her hand had been basically shattered and she was more concerned with making sure Clint was ok than her hand. She didn't worry about her needs or faults, she was worried about him. The last time they had met she wanted to tell him how he wasn't at fault for this happening. She sighed and felt like a complete mess because of all of this. The mystery was finally over, so did this mean what friendship or mission was going on was dead as well?


	5. What Maketh the Man?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After getting Finn to the hospital, Tony and Clint have a little argument that turns into so much more. Clint has some self reflection time, and manages to still keep his promise. Finn on the other hand is happy to see that promise being kept, but also realizes that the fairytale in her head may never be able to come true. A dream is a wish your heart makes, but sometimes your heart is a liar and the dream is really a broken thought that should've been dismissed like a broken tablet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait. This is a busy week, not only with parents who have back to back birthdays, but work, dinosaurs, and school. I will try my best to post at a non past midnight hour, and shed some happy light into a rather sad moment in this story. I still do love this story and I really hope anyone reading this does as well. So enjoy, and I promise it will brighten up eventually.

Clint sat in the waiting room of the hospital, a cup of cheap hospital coffee resting in his hand. He hadn't bothered to even drink it, due to his nerves making him not really want to do anything. He wanted to call Fury and let him know what was going on, but judging by the gossiping nurses around him, it would be a matter of time before Fury called him. Instead he pulled out his phone and texted Natasha. 'Hey Nat.'  
She responded a few minutes later. 'How is she doing?'  
He texted back. 'Broken hand and she's horrified. I don't even know what to do because it took the doctor about fifteen minutes to pry her off of me. She wouldn't let go, no matter how much he pulled or yelled.' He sipped the hospital coffee, realizing it wasn't too bad. Exceedingly strong, but other than that it was alright.   
Natasha responded. 'Should I expect to hear wedding bells by the end of the day?'  
Clint frowned at his phone, not thinking her joke was funny or that amusing. He didn't need the sass from her as well. He was already conflicted internally, he didn't need the added stress of Natasha as well.   
Tony sat in a chair across from him, tired and resisting the urge to punch him in the face. “You're an asshole you know that? What were you even thinking?”  
Clint looked at him. “Like you have any room to talk. You were only after one thing from her and that's it.”  
“That's not even what I was referring to asshole. You let her go alone. You let her go into a house without going with her to make sure she was ok. You let her be alone.” Tony snapped, not wanting to back down.  
“Yeah, I realize I let her go alone. I feel responsible for all of this.” Clint snapped back, not backing down either.  
“Is this why you always work alone? Because you can't seem to be able to keep an eye on a partner or the damn person you've been instructed to protect?!” Tony stood up. “You were supposed to protect her and clearly not even after 2 years can you do that!”  
“This concerns you why?!” Clint stood as well. He wasn't taking Tony's abuse. He had had enough of him already, and him wanting to start a fight didn't ebb this feeling.  
“Guys, take this outside.” A tall muscular security guard warned them.  
“No need to. He'll be leaving.” Tony spoke. “He's good at just leaving. He's done it all his life, it's astounding just how many friends he has with how much he abandons them.”  
“Screw you Stark.” Clint said.  
“Not even on your best day seagull. Get out before I ask this lovely man to bum shuffle you out. You're a waste of time and energy, and you're toxic to anyone. I see now why your wife filed for divorce.”  
“You son of a bitch.” Clint tackled Tony to the floor and gave a few wicked swings. The first hit the hard floor beneath him, the second got his ear, and the third managed to collide with his nose.   
The giant of a security guard grabbed Clint and shuffled him outside. “Don't even think of coming back.” He went back inside and reported back to his position.  
Clint paced outside in the cold spring rain. How could he have been so stupid?! He knew Tony had only done that to push his buttons. He had always had a trigger when it came to bringing up things from his past. His sad childhood, his failed marriage, his lack of emotional growth or sharing. That's what had driven a wedge between him and Bobbi. He didn't want to talk, and she wanted him to talk nonstop. She also wanted him to bend at her will and that just wasn't in the cards for him. He was a different guy now, despite his flaws. He got along better with Bobbi now than when they were married. He tended to discuss things with Natasha over drinks and walks with Lucky to the dog park. He was growing as a person, and yet the idea of ever having someone think about him the way he did Finn terrified him. Finn. He hadn't realized just how much him not being there again would disappoint and scare her. He had promised he wouldn't leave, and yet he had let Tony get the best of him, and get him kicked out of the place where she was. He sighed, and kicked a column. That's when a little light bulb went off in his head. No one said anything about being ON the building...

Finn woke up in her hospital bed, back to the window. She didn't want to look outside, in front of her, or anywhere in fact. Her heart was set on seeing only one face whenever she woke up, and from what she could tell, that face wasn't there. She had a million excuses in her head for him. Maybe he's asleep. Maybe he had to pee. Maybe, maybe, maybe. There were a million maybes in her head that kept her from trying to see the truth.   
Giving up Finn turned around. That's when she saw the face she wanted to see. Outside her window. On a wire.  
Clint pressed his index finger to his lips in a shushing motion. The last thing he needed was for her to scream and cause Tony to run in.  
Finn sat there in disbelief. This was beyond what she had thought of. More than what she thought anyone would do. She quietly got up and opened the window.   
“I told you I wouldn't leave.” He whispered, carefully climbing inside the room. He looked around. “Tony isn't lurking anywhere is he?”  
She shook her head no. Even if Tony were lurking near she wouldn't ever let him in her room. Finn noticed his bleeding knuckles. She pointed and drew a question mark in the air.  
“Heh. Funny story actually. I kinda punched Tony. Like three times.” He sat on her bed, trying to catch his breath. The building was a lot longer than he had envisioned it to be.  
Finn looked at him in disbelief. 'Explain. NOW.' She mouthed, getting a bit angry.   
“For the record, he started it. He started bringing up my past, and I let the anger get the best of me and I tackled him and punched him. Then the security guard kicked me out, so I had to climb the building to make sure I kept my promise. I'm just sorry it took me so long, my shoes kept slipping on the glass.”  
Finn sat next to him, the angry part dissipating. She couldn't be mad at him, nearly everything Tony did annoyed her. Finn put her head on his shoulder and sighed. The attempt to hold his hand failed miserably due to the mangled mess of her left hand being wrangled into a cast. It would be a while before she would be able to use it again. The tablet would be replaced, due to it being a gift from Tony, but her work related device as well.   
Clint looked at her and held up his hands. Maybe it was time for him to actually show her how he could talk as well. 'I am......very sorry.......' He signed, slower than what she usually did. He had practiced, but only in the mirror with Lucky judging him. He continued on, slowly getting in every letter he needed.  
Finn patted his shoulder. She admired the fact he was trying, and didn't want to tell him he called her a bagel instead of probably dear. It was easy for her to sign because she had spent so long only being able to do that, but to actually see someone else go through it made her realize just how lucky she was. She looked at him, a small smile on her face.  
“What? Why are you looking at me like that?” He raised an eyebrow. “Did I say something wrong? I thought that meant sorry, but I may have confused it for cheese.”  
Finn giggled, and shook her head. 'Perfect.' She mouthed.   
Clint sat there quiet for a while. He wanted to talk, but he also wanted to enjoy the silence. Silence, that was something he had missed. Having his hearing aids in all the time was annoying. He heard everything, from the birds outside, to the crinkling of his pillow cases, to the noises the kids four streets away made. He scratched his ear, accidentally pulling out one of the hearing aids.  
Finn reached for it and was stopped when Clint grabbed her hand. She looked at him and drew another question mark in the air.   
He eased out the already coming out one, and gently tugged the other out as well. He slipped them into his pocket mentally noting to not forget them. He kicked off his boots and laid down.  
Finn looked at him, unsure of what he was doing. She didn't need another Barry White fiasco.  
Clint held out his arms, waiting for her to move. This was pushing it for either of them. He hadn't shared a bed with anyone in nearly 5 years, and Finn had never shared a bed with anyone ever.  
Finn complied and laid next to him, her head on his chest. This was nice, and she could feel the thump thump of his heart on her cheek. Finn closed her eyes and just took it all in. The scent of his soap, like lemons with something else mixed in, the soft texture of his t-shirt on her face, the lull of his breathing. Everything about this was completely wonderful, and yet she felt sort of sad. He was just like her, except he was able to pass as a normal person. She would never be able to be normal or be accepted into the world as she was.   
Clint looked at Finn, who seemed to pull away a little. “Finn?” He tapped her on the shoulder. He could still hear just a little bit, but it sounded like he was a million miles under water.   
She shook her head, the heavy feeling in her chest getting worse and worse. Her thoughts were getting ahead of her again. He would never be able to care for her the way she wanted him to. He needed a normal woman, not someone who would always need two hands to talk instead of a mouth. She sat up, a tear betraying her.   
Clint looked at her. “What's wrong?”   
She shook her head, not wanting to risk the trembling bottom lip. The last time she felt this sad was whenever she had tried to call her father on his birthday, and remembered he wouldn't pick up. She pointed to the door, too afraid to mouth anything.  
“Finn...” Clint looked at her. “What's wrong?”  
She pointed again, this time the tears starting to fall like rain during a hurricane. She had to let him go, there would be no other options. He wasn't hers to keep, and she didn't need to take up any of his time.  
“Finn please...” He pleaded. “Please tell me what is wrong.”  
Finn turned away, her face to the window, the same thing she had done 2 years ago. The only difference is what she wanted most was there this time, and that hurt more than her hand.


	6. Time GOes By

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the events of Salzburg have come to a close, Clint and Finn start to verge back into what real life is. An unexpected visit from Bobbi and a "Heartfelt" talk with Natasha leave Clint to think over what exactly it is that made Finn kick him out of her room. Finn is busy throwing herself into work refusing to admit her feelings for Clint. A runaway Lucky brings them together...or does he?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize ahead of time if this chapter kind of sucks. I did the best I think I could. Hopefully the next one will be better in my eyes. In any case, enjoy it. :)

Finn sat in the backseat of a car Tony had gotten for them to go to the airport. She had been discharged and Tony was there to make sure she would get home. He had even made sure she had nice clothes to go home in.  
Tony handed her a new tablet. “It's just like your old one, but with a few added things. I didn't want to change much without you knowing.” He said, a small smile on his face.  
Finn looked at the new tablet. It was like the old one, just a little bigger and had a protective case over it. She turned it on and saw an email from him.   
“Oh, I sent that before you left. I want you to stay on at Stark as a permanent fixture there. I need a communications liaison because the one who isn't you is a complete moron. They don't get along with the people from Burroughs Telecommunications. Please stay.” Tony looked at her, actually looking genuine for once.   
Finn nodded, considering she had no other income and Tony had been the only person to actually offer her a job. As long as he didn't try to Barry White her again, she was good. Well, for the most part. Her mind kept wandering to the hospital and to Clint. She gave a heavy sigh and started playing a game on the tablet. Maybe distracting herself with the racing game would keep her mind from wandering to her secret feelings for Clint.

Clint meanwhile had already returned to the S.H.I.E.L.D base he was stationed to. He was sad and full of self loathing, but he didn't want everyone to know that. Instead he made it seem like he was peachy. The new recruits had no idea, even if half were running and half were puking on the track. “It's gonna be a long day.” He sighed, watching the sad sight.  
Natasha stood next to him. “You can fool everyone else, but you can't fool me. You wanna talk about it or wallow?”  
“Wallow is good. WALK IT OFF ABERNATHY!” He yelled at the recruit who accidentally shot himself in the leg with a stun dart. “Where did all these guys come from?”  
“Delta Squad. This is the bottom of the barrel. Don't try to change the subject.” She threw a baton in the middle of the group. “Relay to the shooting range. Last one there cleans the whole place.”   
All of them took off, eager to not be the last sad soul to get there. Natasha and Clint followed them, silently walking.  
“You know Stark made a big speech today about her.” She handed him one of the clear plexiglass tablets they had.   
Clint looked at the screen and turned it up. Tony's voice came in as annoying as it would have in person. “Finn Bateleur has come on to be the communications liaison here at Stark Industries. She has excelled in not only the field as the primary source of our deals, but has been an advocate for a universal language. Starting next week we will begin a global expansion on all things linguistic here at Stark.”   
Clint quickly shut it off, his stomach feeling like he had ingested half a case of beer. He felt hollow and sick and full of nothing but the wallowing feeling.   
“She'll be returning to her place in a few days. Tony has made sure she gets some rest.” Natasha looked at him. “Maybe it would be good for you to go see her.”  
“She kicked me out of her room Tasha, she doesn't wanna see me.” He helped Abernathy up off the ground. “Faster next time kid.”  
“You're giving up? You of all people?”  
“You wound me.” he mocked her. “Look, I'm just going to work and pretend I don't feel. It's worked out for me so far.”  
“The least you can do is send flowers.”   
He walked a little bit faster. “She's not the flower kind of girl. Allergies. It was noted in her file.”  
Natasha gave him side eye. “Quit avoiding your feelings, or else she'll end up settling for Stark. And you know how he seems to get whenever he one ups anyone.” She waved and turned around. She gave him two hours before he caved and did something to get her attention.  
Clint caught up to the recruits. “Alright, today we're going to learn basic safety. Noting how four of you have bite marks, I'm going to say no to that.”   
After a full day of training the newbies Clint went home to relax for once. He noticed something was off before he even got inside. There was a faint smell of jasmine, and only one woman he knew wore it. He opened the door to see Lucky wiggling around on the floor as Bobbi rubbed his belly. “If you're here to rob me, I have nothing and would prefer to be shot in the leg.” He took his dark maroon jacket off and untied his boots.  
“Tasha called me, she's concerned.” Bobbi spoke, her voice in a soft tone. That was the tone she used whenever she felt sorry for him. When he talked about marrying her she used it, when he talked her into letting him get Lucky she used it, that was the go to voice whenever he needed to hear the truth as well.   
“I'm fine. I don't need to be babied.” He kicked off his boots and grabbed a beer from the fridge.  
“Whoever this girl is, she certainly has made an impression on you. You're usually never this bothered by something, and I would know.” She sat at the counter. “You have to stop being the stoic hero, otherwise it'll just keep you alone forever.”  
“Bobbi, she kicked me out of her hospital room after I scaled the damn hospital! She hasn't returned any calls, messages, texts, or emails. Why bother anymore?” Clint took a sip of his drink.  
“Have you ever thought about what it could be that spooked her? Besides your probably stinky self?” She grabbed the file about Finn he had tucked away under a pile of mail.  
“No don't read that!” He tried to grab it from her with no luck.  
Bobbi scanned the pages and looked at him. “Oh Clint Barton you clueless man...”  
“What? What's in there that I'm missin'?” He looked at the file again. He knew the whole thing by heart. Every detail of her, every single notice, even the outfit she was wearing in the photo he had of her.  
“It's not what you lack, it's what you have.” Bobbi stood up. “Think about it blondie. I'll see you later.” She left shaking her head. He still hadn't changed over the years, and she had hoped maybe he would stop and think before leaping up another building.   
Clint looked at Lucky, completely confused. “I wish I understood her sometimes, I really do.”

~~Two Months Later~~

Finn sat in the monthly meeting of her support group staring at the ugly green tiles on the floor. She felt like she had been away for so long. She had thrown herself into work as soon as she returned home. The idea of stopping to think about what had transpired while she was away was squashed by work. Finn had been to seven cities in 8 weeks, starting in Bangkok, and ending in Melbourne. The Pacific demos of the software had gone great, and she was able to see and talk to so many exciting and creative people. She had learned so much from each city, and had done a lot of networking as well. There were several companies who offered her quadruple what Tony was paying her. She politely turned them down saying she was happy where she was and that there were more seasoned candidates than her. The night she got home she had made sure to lock everything up, and checked sixteen times before she had gone to bed. This was her new routine after everything that had gone on in Salzburg. She showered, put on pajamas, and laid there tossing and turning all night. Her mind raced about with thoughts, ideas, and then would be fogged up by the idea of contacting Clint. He had done so, but with the crappy reception everywhere she couldn't talk to him. Then all of the contact ceased, leaving her to realize that maybe she was right, he wasn't interested in ever seeing her as more than some mission.   
She was shaken from her recounting her life by Rory. She turned and looked at him, feeling bad she had been neglecting everything in front of her presently.   
'You ok?' He signed, concerned about her. He had seen her at her best and her worst, but this, this was something different entirely.   
'Not really feeling ok today. I think I rushed back into life too fast.' She responded, grabbing her bag. 'I will text you when I get home.' Finn waved to everyone and started her walk home. Maybe a good solid walk would clear her head, and give her a little bit of time to think about everything. Her birthday was coming up, which would mean a giant over the top Tony thrown party. He had already brought it up the last time she was in the office with him. He was way too excited about it and it made her feel a little uncomfortable. She was just going to stay home that day, eat some ice cream, and watch a bunch of movies. Maybe a birthday party was what she needed to pull her out of the funk she was in.

Clint walked down the street, Lucky walking next to him. He had decided that maybe he would take the guy out for a walk. He had seen so little of Lucky and always seemed to feel like a crappy friend to him. “Maybe if you're good we'll stop by the pet store and you can have one of those big bones you love so much.”  
Lucky jumped up and down and started to trot with him. Lucky loved going on walks with him, even if sometimes he took off right in the middle and made Clint run around like a maniac trying to catch him. This was one of those days where he was going to take off, and Clint wouldn't be happy about it.   
“Maybe we could go to the one across town, get you a nice bath and-” Clint looked next to him. “Damn it Lucky!” He looked around and started yelling for him. “Lucky! Lucky you evil yellow gremlin!” He ran up the street hoping that Lucky hadn't decided to take off to the park, he'd never get him to go home without carrying him. Clint squinted in the distance and saw a large yellow splotch on the horizon with a turquoise looking splotch as well. “Please be my dog , please don't steal my dog.” He ran towards the splotches hoping neither would move, he was already tired of running and he didn't want to argue with someone about his wayward pup. The closer he got to them, the more familiar the turquoise one was. That's when he realized Lucky had run into the one woman he couldn't stop thinking about.  
Finn. She was there right in front of him, rubbing his dog's head, a smile across her face making his heart want to burst out of his chest. She had such an illuminating smile and it killed him he hadn't seen it in so long.   
“H-Hey...” He spoke, then cleared his throat. “I see you've met my dog. Sorry if he's bothering you, he likes to take off and forget who is in charge.”  
She looked at Clint, taking in the sleepless look on his face. Apparently they shared the same exact night time life without even meaning to. He still looked handsome as ever, even if he did look tired and like he wrestled several enemies at once.   
“How have you been?” He asked, trying to keep the conversation going.  
'All right. Work, work, work.' She signed being able to do so after finally losing the stupid cast that had kept her from doing so.   
“I saw. You're a big wig at Stark now. Should I expect to hear some news between you and him?” Clint spoke, instantly regretting saying it though.  
She dug her tablet out of her bag and started typing. “He's too in love with himself to even look at me. Besides, he's not my type.”  
“Ah. So...” He scratched the back of his head and looked around.  
“This is the infamous Lucky I see.” She typed.  
He nodded. “Yeah, he just seems to wander off whenever we go out.”   
“He seems to like me pretty well.” She giggled.  
“Who wouldn't? Do you maybe want to walk with us? I'm sure he wouldn't mind.” Clint pointed to Lucky who was too busy chasing his tail to even care.  
“I would love to.” She typed, smiling, breaking his heart a little more as she did so.  
Clint held out his hand, hoping that she would take it. Hand holding was childish, and that was all he could do at the moment. He had spent days agonizing over what he would do if she had reappeared in his life, and this wasn't what he had intended.   
Finn tucked the tablet back into her bag and grabbed his hand. This was a nice change to walking alone instead.   
Lucky trotted along side her, completely obedient unlike how he usually was.  
“He's been around you 5 minutes and he's already playing nice.” Clint remarked, jealous.  
'Well, like owner, like pet.' She mouthed, giggles escaping her.   
Clint walked along with her, trying so hard to resist the urge to smile. This was only something that ever happened in those stupid chick flicks right? He had his dog, he had the girl he wanted...well sort of had her, so why was there still something nagging at him inside? She had rejected him, but now everything was suddenly all right? “Finn?” He stopped walking.  
She looked at him, not understanding why they had suddenly stopped.   
“Why did you kick me out of your room? I've spent the last few months trying to figure it out and I just can't. Now is the worst time to do this, but I need to know. Is it something I said? Did I do something wrong?”  
She closed her eyes knowing that this was going to come up. She didn't want to explain because it would seem stupid, but it was important to her. She opened her eyes and pointed to her ears, 'This.' She mouthed.   
“I like your ears. They're cute, as far as ears go.” He responded. “What about them?”  
She let go of his hand. She didn't want to do this, not now, not after they had started to sort of make up. 'I have to go. I have a bunch of work I forgot I had to do.' Finn mouthed giving Lucky one last scratch behind the ear and taking off across the street and dodging down a few more streets. She was never good at the whole explaining why things bothered her, and never wanted to deal with having to share how she felt. That was one thing she always kept to herself, and it kept her back in some aspects.   
Lucky looked at Clint, not getting why the lady who was paying attention to him had left.  
Clint thought for a minute and it finally hit him. “THAT'S why. That's what I have that she doesn't, why didn't I think inside the box about this before?”  
Lucky shoved his head into Clint's knee and shook his head.   
“Yeah I know buddy. Women love you, but seem to avoid me at all costs.” He remarked. “Come on buddy, let's get to the pet store.” He was going to get her to talk even if it took him until the end of time. She was what he wanted, and he would wait for her. He had done it for 2 years, now 2 months, hopefully their next meeting wouldn't take longer than that. He knew her birthday was coming up, and who wouldn't love a present from him and Lucky? Well, probably not so much Lucky, considering the last present he had given Clint was a squirrel he had murdered in the backyard and brought into the house. It took him weeks to get the squirrel blood out of his sheets. Taking a chance was what Clint did, even if there was no back up plan. Sink or swim Barton, and no floaties were allowed.


	7. Oh Baby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Birthdays are supposed to be filled with love, friends, and lots of cake. Two outta three ain't bad right? At the start of the day, Finn is not a happy birthday girl, in the end will she get her wish or just a copious amount of icing to the face? An unexpected visitor could change the way the day goes. Our hero is making sure he takes his chance and hopes that in the end he gets the girl......and some cake too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just enjoy. I still adore this story and love writing it. I hope you enjoy reading it as well. I don' know if this is where I will end it or if I'll continue on. More than likely continue, but there is the small chance I'll just leave it be.

Finn felt her phone buzzing under her pillow. She opened an eye, not sure that she should even be awake yet. She pulled the phone from out under her pillow to see a message from Tony. She groped the table next to her for her glasses, put them on, and opened the message.  
'Happy Birthday Finn, meet me for breakfast?' It said.  
'Sure?' She responded, not really sure at all. Finn was going to be less than happy to see Tony Stark at 8 am, on her birthday for breakfast. She contemplated just falling back asleep, but if she did that she risked Tony coming into her apartment. She sighed, got up, grabbed her bright purple bathrobe and put it on. Finn slipped on her matching purple booties and went downstairs to see Tony already in her kitchen.  
“Morning.” He smiled, looking up from the newspaper he was reading. He was dressed down in a black t-shirt, jeans, and some really strange looking sneakers.  
Finn looked at him with the face she gave people whenever she was appalled by their behavior.  
“I know, I know this is technically breaking in, but you didn't answer the door when I knocked.”   
Finn rolled her eyes. He was really starting to work her last nerve already. That was one bad taste joke to probably start even more of them.   
Tony raised an eyebrow. “Someone is at the door.”   
Finn growled, if it was something he had planned she was going to stab him in the knee with a fork. She went to the door and opened it. To her shock Lucky sat there, a purple bow tied around his yellow neck. She untied it and saw a note. “Hold my collar and follow me.” She mouthed to herself.   
Lucky looked at her, his tail wagging like he knew a giant secret and wasn't allowed to tell.   
Finn shrugged and grabbed his collar. She was gently pulled along by him. He led her down the street, across a few streets, across a bridge and down another street to a park. He kept going until he stopped about feet away from Clint.  
Clint stood there wearing the same tuxedo he had worn the night they first met, his hands behind his back.   
Finn shook her head at the big elaborate set up. 'What are you doing here?'  
“Come here.” He said, waiting for her.  
Finn gave Lucky's collar a shake and he pulled her to Clint and sat. He had done his part of the set up, now it was time for Clint to seal the deal.  
Clint handed her an envelope. “Open it.”  
She did so and pulled out a key. She looked at him a little confused. A key? What did this even go to, and would she even need it?  
Clint held up his hands. 'I have spent the last few years traipsing around the world and the only constant though I have ever had is about you. You were the one person who I could never seem to shake from my memory. You slipped away a few times, and each time I felt a little bit of hopelessness.'  
'Clint-' She started to sign wanting to finally explain.   
Clint held up a hand, already knowing what he needed to do. 'I already know what you're going to say. You feel like you and I aren't a match, but we are. You can't hear and you think that is why you and I shouldn't be together. You think that I should be with someone who is normal. The thing is, I've had normal and it wasn't all it was cracked up to be. I want you Finn. I want to be your protector, I want to be the one person who you depend on because I depend on you. You have been the one guiding me through the world without these.' He pointed to his ears. 'At first I was afraid without them, like I would never be able to function, I was wrong. I don't need them because I have you. You are the piece I need to feel whole. Like the key.'  
'What is it to?' She signed, then rubbed the anxious Lucky's head.  
'I have to show you.' He signed, pointing to the car.   
She followed him to the car, let Lucky in the backseat, and sat in the passenger seat. She knew Tony could possibly be trusted in her apartment...hopefully.  
Clint got in and started to drive, his hand enclosed around hers. He smiled, and hoped that the plan he had was going to work.  
Twenty three minutes later they arrived at the destination. It was a farm house, surrounded by endless land and stuff only people from rural areas knew about.   
Clint got out of the car and opened Finn's door. “Follow me.” He walked towards the front door of the farm house.  
Finn followed, her fingers tightly wrapped around the key. She was getting an idea of what the key went to, and it was making her shake.  
“Here, lemme help you.” Clint grabbed her hand with the key in it and unlocked the door with her. “Ladies first.” He spoke as Lucky shoved his way through.   
Finn went inside and looked around. Her eyes were caught by a hanging banner on the wall.  
'WILL YOU STAY?' was written on it. Her heart seemed to swell with whatever this feeling was. She looked at Clint who had his hands shoved in his pockets.   
“I know it's not a fancy house in Salzburg, or a giant tower in Manhattan, or your apartment, and I know we aren't even dating. I just don't wanna miss another chance at being able to say all this. You've really made me a better man and I need you Finn.” He looked at her, his blue eyes seeming to fill with a bit of despair. “Lucky likes you, I like you, you seem to like us. I made sure to have a room for all of your work stuff,” He pointed to a room across from the entrance way. “The bedrooms look like little bed and break-” He was silenced by her covering his mouth with her hand.  
Finn looked at him, a smile on her face. In her 23 years of living, no one had ever done this. No one had gone out of their way to make sure she was accommodated at all. She couldn't help but start to laugh at the goofy look on his face.   
Lucky trotted over and pushed at Finn's leg with his nose.   
She grabbed his collar, her other hand still over Clint's mouth. She followed Lucky to the small little breakfast nook in the kitchen. On the table was a small cake, the icing purple, and several candles in it.   
Clint looked at her and pulled her hand away. “Happy Birthday Finn. Make a wish.”  
She closed her eyes and kissed him. His lips were soft and chapped a little, his stubble rubbed her chin, and it was marvelous. She pulled away and looked at him. 'I already got my wish.'   
“Will you stay?” He searched her face for an answer. There was still a chance she would say no.   
She looked at him and took a deep breath. There was one thing she always wanted to try and today was a good day to do so. “Always.” She spoke for the first time in a very long time. She didn't care she couldn't hear her own voice, she just cared that he knew what her answer was.  
Clint breathed a sigh of relief. He hugged her tightly, already digging the idea of this becoming routine. The hugs, not the cake.   
Finn stuck her hand in the icing on the sides and smeared it all over his face.   
“Oh? Is this the game then?” He did the same to her, laughing as he did so.  
Finn squealed trying to get away. She kissed him once more, taking in the scent of icing. 'Happy Birthday Finn.' She thought as the icing mess and the feelings she felt grew even more.


	8. Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the day after Finn's birthday and as usual it's work, work, work. Lucky the unexpected hero of everything is given the job of watching over Finn while Clint is away in New Mexico. Sometimes dog isn't always man's best friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking a long time to post. Also sorry for the last few chapters being so short. Don't worry, they'll get longer as I delve further down this rabbbit hole. Enjoy.

Finn sat on the couch next to Clint, watching him as he read to her. She had her fingertips against his lips feeling every word he was saying. She used to do this all the time with her father. He would let her pick out a book and then read to her. Her favorite was The Town Musicians of Bremen. She spent many nights wanting her father to read it, because after the fourth or fifth time she could mouth the whole thing without needing Louis' help. She missed him very much.  
Clint noticed a shift in Finn's behavior and closed the book. “What's going on?”  
'I miss my father.' She signed and sighed.   
He nodded, understanding completely. His parents ad sadly died when he was young and after a few unruly years he was recruited by Fury and became an agent.  
Finn yawned and rubbed her eyes. It had been an eventful day, a new home, a boyfriend, cake war, private reading, a jam packed birthday.   
Clint put the book on the coffee table and got up. He carefully picked Finn up and kissed her cheek. “Come on, to bed with us.”  
She shook her head, refusing to believe that she was actually tired. She always fought going to sleep anymore, due to having a fear of someone trying to grab her in her sleep.  
“Finn, you're barely awake. You shoved your finger into my gums once or twice, you're tired baby.” He carried her upstairs and into the bed he had carried into there mere days before. He even made sure to make the bed which had crisp and fresh sheets and blankets on it. He put her down and covered her up.   
She reached for him, not wanting to sleep alone. She didn't want today to end, and she certainly didn't want him to leave.  
Clint climbed into the bed and laid next to her. He chuckled as Finn pulled him closer, wrapping her arms around him as she did so.   
Finn started to snore right in his ear, not that he minded. He just turned the volume all the way off on his hearing aids and felt her breath on his ear. This was something he could get used to.

Finn woke up the next morning to Lucky creeping under the covers to squeeze himself between her and Clint. She pulled back the covers and he stopped where he was knowing he was busted. She laughed and rubbed his head.  
Lucky flopped down on top of Clint and started to lick his face.  
“EW! LUCKY WE'VE HAD THIS TALK!” He yelled, being thoroughly grossed out.   
Lucky looked at him, his pink tongue sticking out of his mouth. It was morning which meant that he had to go outside now.  
Finn got up and headed to the bedroom door.   
Clint watched her, curious as to what was going to happen. 'What are you up to eagle?' He signed.  
'I know that look he has. You stay in bed, I'll take him outside.' She signed back.  
Clint rubbed Lucky's head. “You go with Finn, she's gonna let you out.”  
At the mentioning of the word out Lucky was out of the bed bouncing by the door.  
Finn opened the door and he practically flew down the steps and to the back door. She opened the door and rushed outside and quickly ruined the poor tree that was there. He seemed happy though, and that thought made Finn feel happy. After about ten minutes Lucky was ready to come inside. He laid on the rug and went right back to sleep.   
Finn went upstairs and saw Clint getting dressed. She looked at him knowing that the show she was witnessing had more to it.   
He turned around as he finished putting on his t-shirt. “Just got a call. I have to be in New Mexico something has come up.” He said, sitting on the bed.   
'Do you want me to watch Lucky?' She signed, waiting for a response.  
'No, it's ok. I'll ask Tasha.' He responded.  
'I can watch him, it's not big deal.'   
Clint pulled his boots on. “Alright, just take care of him ok?”  
Finn squinted at him, hoping he got the idea that she wasn't gonna take Lucky out to a bar.   
He kissed her cheeks. “When I get back, I'll help you move. I promise.”   
She hugged him, not ready for all of this to become a real thing. The having to watch him leave all the time, not the moving in.   
“I promise it's nothing too bad, just foreign object extraction. Something fell from the sky and needs to be watched and made sure nothing else comes with it.” He kissed her. “Do you need me to call anyone?”  
'I need a ride back into town is all I need. Plus if I'm gonna be in town I'll need Lucky's stuff.' She signed, thinking if there was anything else she needed.  
“I can do all of that. I'll give you a few minutes to get dressed and stuff.” He went downstairs and got Lucky and all of his stuff.   
Finn came down a few minutes later wearing one of his shirts and pants.   
“Oh yeah, I didn't think about having you grab stuff last night. Heh.” His cheeks turned pink.  
Finn shrugged and looked at her yellow companion for the next few days. Lucky looked at her, happy to see her.   
“Just make sure he doesn't try to eat anything that isn't his food or else you'll probably have to rip up the carpet and stuff at your place.” Clint warned.  
All three of them got into the car and almost an hour later were back in the city. Clint slowed the car down in front of her apartment building. “Here we are.” He sighed, not really wanting to let her go.   
She kissed him once more, not wanting to go either. 'Be careful.'  
'I will.' He signed back, watching her get out of the car. “Go on Lucky, you're in charge of Finn til I get back buddy.”   
Lucky licked the side of Clint's face and hopped out of the backseat. He followed Finn inside, staying right next to her as she walked to the elevator. He knew he was somewhere new, but this human needed him and he was going to make sure she was taken care of.  
Finn got into the elevator, pressed her floor button and waited as the elevator carted them up to it. She unlocked her door and went inside to see a mess of dishes in her sink. She sighed, completely forgetting about messaging Tony about not coming home last night. She had been so preoccupied by her birthday and Clint.   
Lucky sat by her feet, making sure he wasn't in the way as she quickly cleaned up. He was curious as to what was all here in this new space, but he was told to take care of her.  
Finn got him some of his food and sat next to him. She watched him snarf down the little kibbles, making sure he didn't choke on them. After a while she laid down on the floor and sighed. Even though Clint had been gone only a few hours, she missed him a lot.   
Lucky took notice and laid next to her, his big head on her chest. He kicked his feet whenever she rubbed his head.   
Finn sighed, this was going to be a long wait for him to return. There was something in the air that told her the very same. Fingers crossed it wasn't as bad as she was thinking it was.


	9. Signed Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finn has been asked by Fury to take part in getting some much needed info from HYDRA. She is paired off with Steve Rogers for his first field test after being a capsicle. She is supposed to take orders from him, but sometimes the best way to learn things is to do them by yourself. All on her own at one point, Finn has to learn to do things by herself, and a personal revelation may make it clear tat maybe she should start looking for new employment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy this update, I'm sorry I've been slacking and if things seem to be short or a bit odd. I will keep trying to update more regularly or with more action. I know fluffy spots between are kinda boring, but pacing is key.

Finn sat in her office in Stark Tower looking out the window. It was another rainy cold day and it was boring. Her tablet in her lap vibrated, letting her know there was a message from the front. She looked at the screen to see that she had a visitor, which was strange considering the only person who ever visited her at work was Clint and he was still away. She sent a reply and five minutes later the last person she expected to walk through the door did.  
Nick Fury stood in the doorway, looking scary and imposing as per usual. He had a silver looking briefcase in his left hand.   
She looked at the tablet and typed. “Is there something you need?”  
“I need your help actually. Not here though, I don't need Stark listening in on this. Top secret.” He responded, motioning to the camera overhead.   
She grabbed her bag and woke Lucky up. He wasn't too happy and she was a bit scared as to why Fury would need her help.  
Fury looked at her. “Don't worry I'm not gonna snuff you out in an alleyway.”  
Finn nodded taking out her umbrella as they stepped outside. She followed him in the usual black SUV that he and his people seemed to favor so much. She dug out her tablet and started typing. “Why exactly do you need my help?”  
“It's like this. You are the only person who has no spy work whatsoever. Barton is away, Romanoff is deep cover, and the rest of my crew is a little lack luster to be honest. I need someone with your background.”  
“What exactly do you need me for?” She typed, not sure she made the right choice getting into the car at all.   
“There is an old HYDRA base outside of Siberia. It's being watched very carefully by some of the agents of it. I need you to sneak in, snag whatever tech you can, and get back. After that, I'll need you to translate whatever it is on the tech, got it?”  
“Why don't you have one of the others do it?”  
He rubbed his hands together. “Because I know you better than you think. You got caught on purpose the last time you were in Salzburg, don't deny it. Your disability is a leg up that my agents don't have. They listen too much, and get caught very easy. You on the other hand have an acute sense of feeling.”  
She nodded, knowing that he was right. There had been extensive studies on people who lose one of the five senses and end up getting sharper in the other ones. She was good at the whole being able to feel part, seeing not so much due to her glasses, but nevertheless.   
“I won't send you alone. I'll team you up with one of the best. He's a little rusty, but he'll do. He needs some field time.”   
The car stopped and the door next to Fury opened. A tall, blond haired man sat next to him. He looked a little familiar, but she couldn't figure out where she had seen him before.   
“Finn, this is Steve Rogers-” Fury started to say.  
“CAPTAIN AMERICA!” She had typed, not realizing the caps were on so the tablet screeched it out. “Sorry.” She added, her cheeks turning red.  
'It's fine. Cap here is your back up. You're the brain and he's the brawn.”  
“Hey!” Steve scowled. “I'm not as dumb as I look.”   
“Wheels up in 30.” Fury spoke, getting out of the car. “I've had Hill pack you both some nice warm clothes.” He looked at Lucky. “Come on Barton, you're with me til she gets back.”  
Lucky followed him out of the car, eagerly anticipating treats to follow. Fury was a sucker whenever it came to him.  
Finn looked at Steve, unsure of how exactly a guy from the 40s was alive and kicking in this day and age.  
“Science. You have that look everyone has whenever they look at me.” He spoke, a small chuckle following.  
“Sorry.” She typed. “I didn't mean to stare.”  
“It's perfectly fine. People have been staring at me since I got back.” He nodded. “So, you and me are partners I guess. Is there anything I should know?”  
“Deaf. That's about it.” She typed.  
'Oh? Why didn't you say so then?' He signed, completely shocking her.   
'How do you know this?' She signed back, trying to contain her excitement. Someone else knew how to sign besides Clint. She could have a real conversation with him!  
'Neighbor when I was a kid. She taught me because her sister was. How do you know American though? Fury said you were Austrian.'  
'The interpreter I had was American. And my father didn't want to pay for a European one. Cheapskate sometimes.'  
'This will be so much easier to do without technology, not that I mind it. It'll be easier if we have to talk quietly.'  
'This is absolutely amazing.' She blushed, a little bit happy that someone else could talk with her without the use of her tablet.   
'We should probably get out and head to the airstrip now.' Steve signed motioning to the door.   
Finn nodded and followed him, excited for adventure, but weary due to the fact that she promised Clint she would steer clear of any sort of dangers.

~~Siberia~~

The duo were dropped off 5miles outside of the HYDRA base they were to infiltrate. Finn was in awe of the landscape. There was snow everywhere she looked, which she had missed. Salzburg was always beautiful in the wintertime, but this was some place completely new.   
“Alright, we need to get here.” Steve pointed on a map to a place north of where they were. “If there is anyone outside of it, leave them to me. You get what we need, ok?”  
She nodded, completely understanding what he was instructing. She shuffled her boots in the snow, resisting the urge to throw herself down into it and make a snow angel. Her eyes got wide a moment later. She tugged on his sleeve.  
“Yes Finn?” He spoke.  
'Someone is in the woods. I have that feeling.' She signed seeing the person behind him. She grabbed the closest thing, which was her hat and threw it at them.  
Steve followed it up with a punch. “Good eye.” He breathed, looking around for any other people. “You just tell me when you get that feeling and I'll fix it.” He started to walk towards the base they were supposed to take down.   
It was nearly nightfall whenever they reached it. They had overestimated where they were supposed to be dropped off. It wasn't 5 miles like they had originally thought, it was 50. The chill in the air got even worse to the point Finn was shivering and starting to lag too far behind.   
Steve realized this and picked her up. “You can ride on my back until I can find us shelter. Just don't let go.”  
Finn held on, her eyelids feeling heavier and heavier with each step he took. It had been a long day and there seemed to be no end in sight.  
Steve found a small ice fishing cabin and quickly got them inside. “It's not much, but at least it'll do for now.” He set her down and started pulling stuff from their backpacks. There were heated blankets, food, and a few supplies in case of their demise. He handed her a pack of food. “I think this is beef jerky, but I don't know.”  
Finn yawned and opened it. Sure enough it was beef jerky. She looked at it, not completely sure if it was cooked or not. She had mostly a diet of fruits and vegetables, some chicken, and such. She didn't really care for stuff like this.  
Steve opened his pack and started to eat. “So, what exactly are we supposed to be grabbing in there?”   
Finn pulled out the drawings one of the mission planners had drawn up. There were four small flash drives with the HYRDA insignia on them. They had information from his era on them. This was the one base that had gotten away from him due to his instant freeze as a capsicle.  
“So, we go in there, grab them and then meet at the rendezvous point.” He gnawed on another piece.   
Finn nodded and watched him. She had never really seen someone like him, he was technically old enough to be her great grandfather and yet he looked like he was only 26/27. Tony had told her about his father's work, but for the 1940s it seemed to be a little bit far fetched. 'Did it hurt?'  
“Nah, just the whole being vaccinated part did.” He responded.   
'Do you regret doing it?'  
He shook his head no. “I can't think like that. I was picked to do this and this is my job now I suppose.”  
Finn looked out the window, noticing the horizon looking rather orange. 'Steve? Is the sky supposed to be orange at this time of night?'  
He looked out the window. “Time to go.” He shoved everything back into the bags and led her outside. “You stay here, I'm gonna go see what is going on.” He took off before she could protest.  
Finn scowled. She was tired of being told what to do. She had a mission to do and she would get what she needed. She quietly and very carefully made her way to the base, making sure to watch her back in intervals. There was no need for her to worry, it was mostly dark outside, except for the strange orange glow that Steve had run to. She slipped into the base unseen by any of the guardsmen and made her way around. She stopped dead in her tracks whenever she felt thumping behind her. She had been caught and there was no Steve to protect her. She turned around to see a very tall man looking as if he had spent many a night working out in a gym. He looked at her with a sinister face.  
She took a deep breath and reached into the backpack. There was an emergency flare in there. She pulled it out and threw it directly at him. He screamed as a few sparks hit his eyes. She slid between his legs and ran on, knowing she could be caught again if she didn't hurry. This was going to make one hell of a story if she made it out. Finn looked around to see signs in Russian that she didn't know. She grabbed her tablet and snapped a quick photo, hoping the software would activate and show her what she needed to know. The left one did, which said the word LABORATORY. She darted that way as more HYDRA thugs made their way down the hall. She skittered to a stop at the end of the hall seeing a keypad that needed a certain code before entering. She looked at the pad noticing how worn three numbers were. The 1, the 9, and the 4. Taking a chance she keyed in 1944, which was probably important to them somehow. She watched the door open and slunk inside making sure the door shut before there were people to follow. Inside the room there were test tubes, blue lights, and of course, a main computer system. She started searching the drawers and found three of the four flash drives. Finn turned around to see a person standing there. A woman about her size holding the last one.   
“Looking for this?” She held it up, teasing her.   
Finn stood there, unamused. She had to deal with Tony and his taunts, so this one was just another annoyance. Finn took her backpack off and threw it down. She stood there, feet apart, taking a stance she had seen in a few video games. This was usually what happened before they started fighting.   
The woman approached her and threw a punch. Finn sidestepped it, cracked her in the ribs and neck.   
The woman gasped, not realizing that this was just sheer dumb luck at this point. She dove towards Finn and knocked her down.   
Finn wrapped her arm around the woman's neck trying to choke her into submission. She squeezed as tight as she could praying it worked.  
The woman kicked and thrashed as much as she could, it was useless and a few moments later she was completely knocked out. Finn grabbed the last flash drive and collected her backpack. She hauled it back outside just as Steve ran up, helicopters in the air, S.H.I.E.L.D agents on the ground.   
“Where did you go?!” Steve yelled, mad that she had disobeyed a direct order.  
Finn held up the flash drives with a smile. She had gotten them all by herself and without a scratch.   
“Just follow me before you get into more trouble.” He led her to a waiting car. “Good job, but next time wait for me. You could've been hurt or worse. Next time you won't be so lucky.”  
Finn rolled her eyes, and felt a little bit of pride well in her chest. She had done something on her own and it felt good. She had accomplished many other things, but this was completely different. This was like when she was with Clint, and she loved this feeling. Maybe she was in the wrong profession. Maybe she was meant for a little more than just software development. She curled up on the seat and passed out, dreaming happy dreams. This was a good day, and she needed a boost from all the sadness she felt. The only thing that weighed on her mind was how she was going to explain this to Clint without him getting mad...


	10. Lemons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Finn's mission with Steve, Clint returns to find out just what the love of his life has been up to while he was away. After arguing about it and things being said that were a bit harsher than usual, there is a big talk needed between the couple to grasp some understanding as to what it means to be fully normal. Finn has a choice to make in the end, but is it for her, or because she still has that nagging feeling that there is something she lacks?

Clint walked into S.H.I.E.L.D overly tired after the long being away in New Mexico. All he wanted to do was turn in his paperwork, go home, and be with Finn. He was anticipating being home with her. He hadn't heard much from her whenever he was away, maybe she had been ultra busy moving into the new house and taking care of Lucky.   
Some of the other agents whispered to each other as he passed by them, they looked rather like they knew something he didn't. After the seventh set of agents he stopped and looked at all of them. “What seems to be the big secret around here?”  
“Your girlfriend went on a mission with Cap. She came back without a scratch and did most of the work herself.” One of them spoke up.  
Clint raised an eyebrow. “There's no possible way.”  
“Barton, my office.” Fury spoke from behind him, and beckoned with his index finger.   
Clint followed him, highly doubting what the agent had said was true. “Please tell me what Henderson said wasn't true.”  
“I wish it wasn't. Not really, considering she gathered some serious information in regards to HYRDA.” Fury spoke, watching Clint go from calm and relaxed to absolutely seething.   
“YOU SENT HER ON A MISSION WITH STEVE?! SHE HAS NO MEANS OR REASON TO EVER GO OUT THERE WITHOUT ME. YOU COULD'VE GOTTEN HER KILLED AND YOU THINK I WOULD BE ALL RIGHT WITH THE IDEA OF HER DOING THAT?!” He yelled, throwing his bag on the floor. “SHE ISN'T EVEN PART OF THIS DAMN ORGANIZATION! ARE YOU THAT DUMB TO THINK THAT THIS WOULD BE OKAY?!”  
“I understand you're upset-”  
“UPSET IS PUTTING IT MILDLY! WHERE IS SHE.” Clint slammed his fist onto the desk in front of him.  
“The labs below. She's translating some of the languages its been encrypted in.” Fury turned his back on him.  
Clint grabbed his bag and went to the labs. He had been pissed before, but this was a new kind of pissed. Now he probably knew how Bruce Banner felt whenever he hulked out. He nearly leapt out of the elevator whenever the doors opened and marched right into the lab.  
Finn stood there, looking at her tablet, then the giant screen in front of her. She turned around and gasped whenever she saw him. She put her tablet down and looked at him. 'Hi dear, how was your trip?' She signed, smiling.  
“Don't you 'hi dear' me. Fury told me about your adventure with Steve.” He spoke, trying to calm down.  
'About that-' She started to sign.  
“Oh please, do tell. I wanna hear all about the thing I told you not to do. I tell you stay out of danger and you did the opposite.”  
She furrowed her brow. 'I was just doing Fury a favor. He asked for my help and I went with it. I wasn't by myself, I had Steve as back up.'   
“Yeah well, a little birdy told me you pretty much did the whole thing by yourself. Did you even think about what could have happened to you? You could have died Finn. You could have been seriously injured, been captured and tortured, and a million other things.”  
'Do you not ever think I was thinking the same thing while you were gone? Oh, I forgot because you're the big agent guy you can do whatever you want without thinking about how I might feel.'  
“I do this for a living, this is my job. Your job is to sit at Stark and do whatever it is you do.”  
'Maybe I don't wanna just be a bystander anymore. Maybe I feel like I was meant to do more things like this.'  
“Over my dead body. You're deaf Finn, you tend to forget that sometimes. You physically cannot do this job because you are a high risk. You got caught in Austria, you nearly died, not happening sunshine. I will block you every step of the way because I love you.”   
'You got a funny way of showing it.' Finn collected her stuff and shoved it into her bag.  
“Finn-” He started to say, regretting a little bit of what he had said.  
She looked at him, pure anger in her eyes. 'What was that? I can't hear you, I'm deaf. But as you pointed out I forget that sometimes. Thank you so much for reminding me because I clearly needed to be told what I have wrong with me.' She pushed past him and went to the elevator. Yeah, she felt like a complete ass for saying it, but she was mad, he was mad and it was better than saying something meaner. As much as she hated admitting she was wrong, she was wrong. There would be no way for her to ever pass their tests or be able to pass a field go due to the fact that she was without a sense. The go with Steve was a stroke of luck, but there would be a low run of luck at some point.  
The elevator doors opened and she walked out to the car that was waiting for her. She may have been part time there, but at Stark she was still full time on their payroll. Tony had always made sure there was a car ready and available for her, due to the fact that he was a bit lazy whenever it came to being anyone's ride. She sat there and patiently looked out the window as the city scenery turned into country.

Clint had gotten home before her, showered, and sat in front of the tv for a while. He knew she would be home at any moment, but that didn't seem to phase him. He had said what he felt, even if he had to say something harsher than normal. He had every right to be angry, she had gone off without him and could have been killed. He rubbed his face, the idea of having to talk once again weighing heavy on him.  
The front door opened and Lucky started barking, his usual greeting for everyone. He was a noisy dog most of the time anyways.  
Finn walked into the living room and set her bag in the dark green over-sized chair she had brought with her when she had moved in.   
Clint waved, hoping there was some sort of communication between them. “How was the rest of your day?”  
Finn responded with a shrug, and went to the kitchen. She grabbed an apple, rinsed it off and bit into it.   
Clint walked into the kitchen and sat on the counter. “Are you gonna talk to me or are we just gonna do this and go to bed angry?”  
Finn looked at him, her eyes red from crying in the car. She felt really bad for what she had done and said and she hated feeling like this. She set down her apple and washed her hands.  
“I'm sorry I said what I said. It was wrong and I was wrong for saying it.” He said first, before she could.   
'I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have gone off without you and I do forget sometimes that I am not like the rest of the world. I just wanted to do something that was cool and could perhaps help in some sort of way. You're right, there's no way I would ever be able to be like you at all.' She signed rather sadly.   
“I just can't lose you because I love you.” He said it again, letting it fall out into the open once more.  
Finn looked at him and took a small breath. “I......love you......too.....” She spoke, her face turning red. She didn't talk often, and felt embarrassed whenever she did.   
“Why don't you talk more?” He asked, getting up.  
She poked her throat and frowned, hoping he understood.  
“It's a nice voice. I like it. Maybe someday I'll get to hear it all the time.” He kissed her cheek.   
Finn looked at him. 'Can we talk?'  
“Sure, what's going on?” He asked, brushing her bangs out of her face. Her hair had grown a significant amount since their first meeting forever ago.  
'I was talking to Dr. Brown and he said there is this experimental surgery that could bring me into the hearing world. And I've been thinking about it a lot and I was thinking about doing it.' She signed.   
“I feel like there is a 'but' involved here.” Clint spoke.  
'But I wanted your opinion first. Do you think I should do it?' She searched his face for something.  
Clint took a breath and looked at her. “I think if you want to do it, just name the time and I'll be there. I just want you happy, and if this will help that then do it.”   
She nodded, feeling a little bit better.  
“To me, you are already perfect.” he pulled her closer by her hips. “You put up with me, you take care of Lucky who is a weirdo,” He pointed to Lucky who was on the floor trying to bite his tail. “I love you very much Finn.”  
Finn put her head on his shoulder, the weight of the question bouncing around in her head. Did she really need to become part of the hearing world, or was there something else deeper inside bothering her that she was covering up? At least for the moment she had what she wanted the most right in front of her.


	11. Closing In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finn never talks about her mother, but whenever the woman shows up like a bad penny madness ensues. A talk leads Clint into realizing he was more settled into the idea of being part of a group of people who get overlooked and forgotten on a daily basis.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for taking so long There was a domino effect in my life and now everything seems to be squared away. Please enjoy this really long and overdue update.

Clint woke up before Finn, an unsurprising thing considering his mornings usually started hours before hers. There was something about this morning that felt different, something unexpected.   
The doorbell rang, which was scary considering it was barely 5 am, and no one knew where he lived. Clint reached between his mattress and box spring and pulled out one of the guns he kept hidden in the house. He had an overwhelming fear that there was going to be an event like this, and he didn't want any surprises. He looked at Lucky, who was already on the bed near Finn. He was the last line of defense in case Clint didn't do his part. Clint went downstairs and peeked out between blinds. There was a woman on the porch, impatiently looking at her watch and seeming to be irritated by being there. He had never seen her before, and usually people like that were cause to raise a few alarms.   
The doorbell went off once more causing Lucky to bark. Clint knew by then Finn would be awake, the thing he didn't want. With his gun at his side he opened the door. “Can I help you lady?”  
“Who are you?” She asked, an accent similar to the other Austrians he had been around during his trips and missions and girlfriend's occasional speaking.   
“The guy who's asking you what you need help with. Now, either tell me who you are or I will have to ask you to leave.” He snapped, not wanting to deal with her. She was already irritating him and he had just opened the door.   
“Elsie. Elsie Bateleur. My daughter is named Finn. I was told she lives here now.” The woman took off her sunglasses. She looked like she was in her late 50s, early 60s at the most. She also looked like she was a politician in her dark navy blue blazer, and matching skirt.   
Clint looked behind him to see the love of his life standing there rubbing her eyes. “Damn.” He tucked the gun in the back of his boxer briefs.   
Finn looked at Elsie and immediately her whole demeanor changed. She became angry and quite pissed off at the woman standing on her porch. She looked at Clint and he immediately understood.   
“Elsie could you give us a minute?” Clint shut the door and looked at Finn. “What is going on?”  
'Get that woman out of here now.' She signed, very angrily.   
“I can do that. Just make coffee and I'll get it settled.” He kissed her cheek and shut the door behind him as Elsie looked up from her phone.   
“Well?” She spoke, rather tersely. She was seriously irritating him with every word she spoke.   
“Finn asked me to tell you to leave. I don't know what you two have that is unresolved, but you seriously should leave.” He responded looking around. He made a mental note to get the grass mowed and Finn's garden started.   
“I just took a 22 hour flight to see my daughter and she won't even give me the courtesy of speaking to me? I swear I will reamed Louis for this.”   
“He died. Like 2 years ago lady. Where have you been?”  
“Away doing more important things. Look, just tell her that I have a party coming up and I expect her to be there. You're optional.” She tucked her phone into her blazer pocket and walked to the car sitting in the driveway.  
Clint returned to the inside of the house to see Finn climbing on a counter to get into the cereal cupboard. He kept forgetting to move the cereal down a few so she wouldn't do that. He was always afraid she would end up falling without him there.   
Finn got down and looked at him. 'Is she gone or am I going to have to go out there and kick her in the face?' She signed, her fingers a blur.   
“What is your issue with your mother Finn? She shows up and you turn into the Hulk.” He grabbed a few bowls.   
'That beast is no mother. She abandoned me in the hospital as soon as she found out I was deaf. My father found me crying in my bed, alone and her gone. I want nothing to do with her. And don't even try to talk me into dealing with her because I will take a fork and stab you in the hand.' She got herself some cereal and dumped milk into the bowl. She hated Elsie more than anything in the world, and hate was a very strong word.   
“Ok, ok I will let you slide with this one because I don't want a bowl thrown at me.” He sat at the table with her.   
Finn stared into the swirling cinnamon of her milk. She was thinking about her day ahead and Elsie wasn't a part of it. She was just another idiot in the idiot stew.   
“Finn? Hey, Finn.” Clint grabbed her hand making her look up. He giggled at the sight of the scowl on her face. “You're so cute when angry. Listen, you don't have to deal with her, I will. If she wants anything else I'll deal with it. Sound good?”  
She nodded, and started to eat her cereal. Why was Elsie suddenly wanting to play Mommy Dearest when she had abandoned her at birth? This was going to bother her more than she would know.   
Clint handed her her phone. “Message from Tony.”  
She looked. 'Need you here ASAP. Big deal going down.' She shoveled her cereal into her mouth, got dressed and headed into the city with the car that was always there promptly whenever Tony wanted her somewhere pronto. She didn't want to be awake this early, but if it kept her mind off her mother, anything was better than that. 

When she got into the office Tony was sitting in her chair behind her desk. She pulled out her tablet and started to type. “What is this big deal that needs me?”  
“There has been a significant increase in sales. We need more demos in more countries. I need it bigger, better, something more to draw in more people.”   
“Motion sense and translation for people who sign more than type. A camera that follows lip movement for people who can read lips and mouth responses. There you go.” She typed and set her stuff down.  
“Good. Good.” He stood up. “You're full of good ideas today. Just be prepared to be shipped off to different cities.”  
“You made me come into work this early to tell me something in an email?” She rolled her eyes and left. She just wanted to stay in bed today and do nothing more than that. 

When she got home Clint was still in bed, snoring as loud as possible. He hadn't been sleeping well and had spent a few nights out with recruits during night sessions. She always made sure he had dinner whenever he was home late and left a note on the fridge to let him know he had warm clothes waiting in the dryer.   
She looked on the fridge to see a note from him. 'Lucky got you something. On the table.' She went to the dining room table to see hit favorite dog toy waiting for her. It was a bear he slept with every night and if he didn't have it he wouldn't go to bed. She picked it up and carried it upstairs to bed with her. She slid back into her pajamas and next to him in bed.  
Clint wrapped his arms around her and opened his eyes. “Did you like your gift from our puppy?”  
“Yes.” She actually spoke trying to utilize her voice more.   
He smiled. “I love when you talk.”   
“Tony wants more demos and updates.” She buried her face in his chest.   
Lucky interrupted their quiet time by leaping under the covers and squeezing himself between them.   
Clint looked at Finn. “You all right?”  
Finn thought for a minute and shook her head. “I want Elsie to leave me alone. She left me and I don't want her around.”   
Clint nodded. “I can do that.” He wasn't sure how, but he knew that this woman was going to be a bigger issue if he didn't tell her to just leave Finn alone.   
Finn yawned and started to fall asleep once again. It was only 7 am and she wasn't ready to greet this day in particular.   
Clint waited until she completely fell into a deep sleep and got up. He quietly dressed and went in search of Elsie. Knowing how she was acting, she was probably in the giant hotel downtown where barely anyone could get in. He slipped past the doorman and went inside.  
“Hi, how can I help you?” Jessica the desk clerk asked, bubbling with a smile.  
“Hi, my mother in law is in town and I think she is here. Do you have an Elsie Bateleur staying here?” Clint spoke in his best voice.  
Jessica tapped on the keys of her computer. “Room 3354. Should I tell her you're on your way?”  
“No, I'd rather surprise her. Thank you so much.” He stepped into the elevator and headed into the lioness' den. He got out and knocked on room 3354's door.   
The door opened and Elsie stood there. “What do you want?”  
“Finn doesn't want to have any contact with you at all. You're just upsetting her and as a bystander I can't let you continue to do that.” He said, hoping she would just leave her alone.  
“Not going to happen. I am her mother.”  
“Apparently not if you left her mere hours after she was born.”  
“Excuse me for being overwhelmed. I had a child who was born-”  
“Ok, before you say something that will piss me off let me tell you this. Finn is perfect the way she is. She is kind, smart, funny, beautiful, creative and worth everything I have. She has created software that allows people like us to be able to communicate.”  
“Us?” She raised an eyebrow. “You're perfectly fine.”  
He rolled his eyes. “You really are a piece of work. Yes, us.” He pulled out his left hearing aid. “I may not have been born deaf, but I am now. And as it stands I am glad you skipped out on being her mother because you seem to think that nothing is acceptable but what you think is normal. Have a nice life and stay out of ours.” He left and went home. Clint may have been late to the party, but there was no way in hell he would ever deal with hat woman on a daily basis. She was nothing but bad energy and he didn't have the time to deal with her.   
When he got home Finn was busy making lunch. He wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her tightly, not wanting to let go. He never realized just how grateful he really was for having her around. She was there, she was his, and nothing would change that at all. He was deeply in love, and for him this was a giant leap. He was getting great at leaps, especially when the ending was where Finn was.


	12. Guarantee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All work and no play makes Finn really irritated with life. Vacation awaits her, along with a few other surprises. The question is, what will she decide?

Finn laid in bed that night with Clint thinking over everything that was going on. She was sleepy, but she wasn't completely tired yet. She was thinking about work the most, considering she had already gotten an email from Tony stating that she was to be prepared for a 36 city business venture and she just wasn't ready for it. Sure she had been through this already, but still. She was just getting tired of the whole business thing. She had the software done, 2 months later Tony was demanding another update, a month later he demanded her to do a business venture tour, now it was back to the same cycle once again. She was getting tired, and she was ready to settle into her life with Clint.   
Clint rolled over and gave her arm a light pinch. He knew she was deeply into her thoughts and he would give her a little scare.  
Finn jumped, scared out of her head. She looked at him and raised an eyebrow.  
“What's going on?” He asked, sitting up.   
'Just work stress. Tony wants me to do a 36 city business venture thing. So meetings and more meetings and more meetings.' She signed with a sigh.   
“So don't do it.” he responded thinking that was the most logical answer.  
'I can't just not do it. This is my work.'  
“Yes, you can. Finn, you're exhausted. You need a vacation away from work and all of the stressful things.”  
She looked at Lucky who was asleep of his rug. She did miss spending time with him and Clint, plus Clint did promise her a vacation with them. She blushed, 'Does this mean I get to see you in swimwear?'  
Clint wiggled his eyebrows. “Play your cards right and maybe you'll see more than that.”   
Finn's face went completely red, embarrassed by what that could entitle. She was still getting used to the idea of having a boyfriend, let alone what lie beneath the coverings.  
“Don't worry, nothing will happen that you don't feel comfortable with.” He kissed her cheek.   
She typed up a quick email to Tony about having to postpone the whole business tour thing due to needing a vacation from it all. She shut her phone and tablet off and cured up close to Clint. There was always time for snuggles and before she knew it she was completely out, snoring exceptionally loud.

VACATION

Finn, Clint, and Lucky all walked into their perfect beach front home after a very long flight. They had decided on going to California. It may not have been somewhere special, but Finn's geography consisted of the continent of Europe, and New York. She hadn't been anywhere exotic besides Siberia and she never discussed it. The last time she had Clint clenched his jaw so tightly it hurt for three days afterwards.  
“So nice of Tony to set all of this up.” Clint spoke, keeping the rest of what Tony had set up to himself. He had asked for Tony's help due to the fact he had planned to ask Finn to marry him while they were on vacation. Sure, it was early in the relationship, and sure she could say no, but he knew that this was it. He didn't want another wife if this marriage went south.   
Finn kicked off her shoes and immediately went in search of the bed. She found it and leaped onto it. It was soft and had blue sheets and looked like the ocean was in the room.   
Lucky leaped into the bed as well. He was excited to be somewhere new and not have to see grass. There was water and he wanted to go explore, but being in bed with Finn was fun too. He flopped down next to her and laid there in all his glory.   
Finn rubbed his belly and giggled. She was happy to spend time with her two favorite guys.   
Clint stood in the doorway. “You wanna go to the beach?”  
She nodded and pointed to Lucky.   
“He's asleep babe. He'll be ok by himself for a while. Get your suit on and we'll go.” He went into the bathroom to change into his shorts.  
Finn opened her suitcase and dug out her suit. It was a simple one piece with flowery print. She liked colorful clothes and this was one of her favorites. She put it on and grabbed a towel.  
Clint looked her over. “You look beautiful.” He smiled and held out his hand.  
She grabbed his hand and they went to the beach. It was a quiet day with a few people on the beach. They laid down their towels and sat.  
Clint had the ring in his pocket all ready to go. He had spent all week before their trip trying to figure out how to propose. He just decided to go for it and ask her when the moment presented itself. He was absolutely in love with her, and he knew she was in love with him. They had a long history of being in each others lives and they seemed like they were a fit for each other.  
Finn looked at the water completely enamored by it. She had never really seen one this close. It was a lot bluer than she had anticipated and it was gorgeous. There was something magical about it all.   
Clint took a deep breath and hoped for the best. He tapped her on the shoulder. “Finn? Can we talk?”   
She nodded, a little confused at why he looked so serious. “What's wrong?” She spoke out loud.  
“Well, we're happy together right?” He asked, his heart pounding.  
“Yes.” She responded.  
“Well, I was thinking that since we seem to enjoy each others company and you love me and I love you that maybe we could discuss the future.”  
Her eyes got wide. “Clint...”  
“Let me just finish.” He turned towards her. “In the amount of time we have been together you have made me feel things that I never thought I could feel. You're smart, funny, cute, you have such a wonderful imagination, you make me laugh and I love you so very much. You are the love of my life and you make me feel so damn happy.” He dug around in his pocket and pulled out the ring. It was a small regularly cut emerald with a silver band, something that he knew she would love. “Finn, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”  
She gasped, caught off guard by the whole thing. Sure she had known this was probably the next step, but it caught her by surprise. She loved Clint very much, but at the same time she couldn't help but think about the future even further. They could manage marriage, but what if they were to have children and they were like her? Would he be able to commit to them like he had her? What if she had a bunch of work to do and had to cancel dinner and date nights and more things like that? Would he get tired of her? What if the same thing happened to them that happened to him and Bobbi? Finn hadn't really thought out any of this, and now that he was prepared to spend the rest of his life with her as a permanent fixture in her life. She looked at the ring, then him, then the ring once more. Was she ready to go from an eagle to a hawk?


	13. Turn Around Bright Eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finn finally gives her response ad Fury manages to ruin her day. Leading into the first Avengers film, and may cause a few divergences with canon, which you probably already know considering it has been tagged.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to extend a hand of thanks to everyone who has read this story, enjoys it, and keeps coming back to read more of the updates. I have a hard time thinking that my writing is liked by anyone but me and a few friends who I entrust in reading anything I write. So, to see the numbers keep jumping really gives me a little boost each time. I hope you enjoy this update and thank you once again.

Finn looked at Clint who eagerly awaited her response to his question. She had spent a few restless nights thinking about this kind of scenario and in every ending there was always one outcome. She took a deep breath and opened her mouth. “Yes.” She said out loud to him. There were a considerable amount of fears underneath it all, in the end life with him wouldn't change, just her name.   
Clint slipped the ring around her finger and pulled her in for a kiss. He really wasn't a man of many words when it came to things like this. “Finn...”  
She looked at him finally getting why they were together. He loved her, she loved him and that was really all there was to it. “I love you.” She said kissing his cheek.  
“I love you too.” He smiled, his blue eyes seeming to look a bit brighter than before. He frowned a few seconds later as he noticed a familiar shape on the sand approaching him. “Great, just great.”  
“You seem to be under the impression that just because you decide to fall off the grid the whole of S.H.I.E.L.D. seems to stop as well.” Fury spoke standing in front of them. “I need you Barton. There's something big lingering on from our friend's visit in New Mexico.”   
“No, I'm on vacation, with my fianceé.” He growled, not wanting to back out of the stuff he had planned.   
“You can either come by your own free will, or I'll invoke the rule about being unruly while on duty.”   
Clint sighed and looked at Finn. “I'm so very sorry for this Finn. I have to get back a lot sooner than I thought.”  
She nodded knowing this wasn't his fault. 'I'll spend some time with Lucky and probably be back in the Us in a few days as well. Is it bad?' She signed knowing Fury wasn't as up to date with the shortened version of sign they had.  
'Not too bad. Shouldn't be more than a few days at the most. I promise.' He signed back, getting up out of the sand. “Ok, this had better be good or else.”  
“Selvig has the cube and I need eyes and ears to make sure he doesn't do anything to disrupt the daily day to day activities.”   
“Fine. Let me just-”  
“Your bag has already been collected by Widow. All I need is you in the chopper and us out of here.” Fury started to walk away.  
Clint kissed Finn one last time and was off on another mission to protect something that would probably be a big disappointment as usual.  
Finn watched him disappear into the horizon and went back to the house. She flopped down in bed and heaved a heavy sigh.   
Lucky popped up out of his hiding spot and laid next to her. He understood what was going on and knew that he was needed even if she didn't want to motion for him to be near. He was getting good at reading her, even if neither of them spoke the same language.   
Finn grabbed her phone which had a rapid blinking light on the front of it. She was starting to hate the damn thing, always flashing eve in the dead middle of the night. There were always alerts on emails, texts, calender reminders, the list went on and on. She started with the texts noticing a vast majority of them were from Tony. What she gathered was it had been a rough few days and he was drunk texting once more. Jarvis was supposed to have started locking him out of things whenever that started. She sighed and responded. 'There is nothing wrong, I was on a long flight and just got engaged. I will be needing a jet back to New York this evening. Clint was called away for work and there is no point in Lucky and I staying here without him.'  
The phone buzzed a few minutes later with a reply from Tony. 'Good. See you soon. Plane is ready and waiting.'   
She rolled her eyes and got dressed with Lucky's help. He kept bringing her different pieces of clothing from her suitcase to try to get the process done faster. He could sense she wasn't very happy and just wanted to be home.   
Finn grabbed the rest of her stuff and went outside to the already waiting car, got in, and was fast on her way back home. She rubbed Lucky's head and sighed knowing this was going to be a long road ahead. 

Finn opened her office door refusing to let anyone drive her home, just in case any unexpected visitors were there. “Office, sweet office.” She said to herself as Lucky curled up under her desk. She sat down and started her work once more, approving and altering future itineraries and changes to the software. Her mind started to wander to the wedding and what all that was going to entail. From cake, to the dress, to the church, to the honeymoon, parties, rehearsals, and probably countless other things she was forgetting about. This idea started to stress her out, then she felt Lucky tense up under her desk. She looked in the doorway to see Tony, only he looked like he had just heard some serious news.   
He wrung his hands and took a deep breath. “We need to talk.”  
She dug out her tablet and started to type. “What's going on?” The voice from the software spoke, sounding different from the usual one.  
“Did you change the voice?” He asked, getting off topic for a moment.  
“I wanted to test the Austrian accent one, I have a meeting in the next few weeks with the head of Hugo Corps Director of Linguistics. What's the news you have?”  
“This isn't easy for me to say and just know now I take no real pleasure from telling you this, but your boyfriend kinda got hostaged. Some space dude and I kinda need your help because I have no real idea what exactly to do. Fury had one of his agents swing by and drop off stuff, but I really have no time to interpret half of this.”   
Finn's heart sunk into her stomach and she paled a bit. “What happened.”  
“He was protecting some cube thing and a space guy sprung out of nowhere and did something and now he seems like he is possessed and is doing the Star Man's bidding.”   
“Ok, where do we start?” She got up and Lucky took his protective stance in front of her.  
“Easy Kujo, I'm not gonna attack her. I need her help.” Tony held out a hand.  
Lucky squinted at him and followed Finn as she walked out of the office. He was entrusted to watch her and keep her safe whenever Clint was working, and he took his job seriously.   
“What is my first task?” Finn typed and looked around.   
“I need you to come with me on the jet. I have to go rendezvous with Fury and his magical group of weirdos.” Tony stood in front of a mirror attempting to tie his tie.   
She rolled her eyes and did it for him. 'You are really pathetic when it comes to taking the boss thing seriously.' She mouthed ass she did so.   
“I take this job seriously. Just like you do, except I know how to have fun.”  
Finn raised an eyebrow and decided against the idea of slapping him. She knew how to have fun, the only problem was whenever she wanted to he needed her for this, or Clint has to work that, or something else popped up and she couldn't do it. It was annoying being known as a workaholic, but there were never any times she could bust out of the pantsuit and just be a normal person. Well, her version of normal that was.   
“Congratulations by the way. I'm glad you and birdboy wanna become a married couple.” He said, probably the only time he would ever be mildly nice.   
She nodded knowing that he was being a genuine person this time around. The nice moments about Clint were few and far between.  
“Ready to go? I'm sure the one eyed killjoy is just shivering with anticipation about us coming to figure out what they did wrong. Again.” Tony headed towards the elevator and waited for her. “If that furball sheds a hair on my jet I'll have him shaved.”  
She rapidly typed a response on her tablet. “Touch my dog and I'll have you waxed everywhere at Madam Phan's salon.”   
“Fair enough.” He cleared his throat and pressed the ground floor button.  
Finn giggled to herself and winked at Lucky who was looking up at her with a little grin of his own.   
“Have you started planning the wedding?” Tony spoke up as they headed to the car.  
“Not yet no. I just don't want to start to make any choices without Clint.” She typed out and buckled in. She buckled up Lucky as well as a precaution, not that he minded, he knew that this was supposed to happen.   
“Does that thing ever do anything besides look like a weird dog?” Tony raised an eyebrow.  
“He can chase squirrels and eats bugs.” She typed as Lucky rested his head in her lap. She rubbed his head knowing he missed Clint as well.   
“I'm sure it's not as serious as we're thinking it is. I mean there has never been a time where Fury ever needed me.”  
“I went on a mission with Captain America and kinda didn't tell Clint. Siberia is exceptionally cold as well.” She typed and started shutting her tablet down. She was tired of typing and of talking. She had been on the go since yesterday and just really needed sleep.   
Lucky snuggled closer and fell asleep on Finn. She put her glasses in their case and conked out as well. There was so much going on and being overly tired wasn't going to make anyone helpful or happy. There was a change coming, only there was no way to measure just what all was going to be changing and just how fast it was going to happen.


	14. Is this love?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meeting with the king of mischief has drawbacks...

Fin was woken up by Tony as he brushed past her to get off the jet. She looked around noticing just how bright it seemed to be outside.   
“We’re on their carrier thing.” He said before she could ask anything.  
Lucky got up and hopped out of the jet as well. It had been a long flight for him and there was a box a few feet away that looked to dry for his liking.   
Fin got out of the jet and looked around. There were people buzzing about everywhere, moving vehicles, small cones, and various other items in every place she seemed to look. There were so many moving parts to this whole entire machine it seemed. She followed Tony into the carrier and saw Fury, Natasha, Steve, and a few other unfamiliar faces.   
“Ah, finally.” Fury spoke, looking at Tony and Fin.   
Fin pulled out her tablet and started to type. “Who are the new guys?”  
“This is Dr. Bruce Banner, and everyone’s favorite sky guy, Thor. This is Fin Bateleur, we’ll need her help in order to regain some sort of control.”   
Steve waved and gave a small smile. “It’s nice to see you again.”  
“Likewise.” She had typed, anticipating his greetings. “Where do I start?”  
“Well, we have a mission going out on an extraction. When they get back I need you to start watching the intended prisoner.” Fury said, speaking slow enough for her to catch his response.   
“What am I supposed to do?” She raised an eyebrow.  
“You’re the only one who we feel will be fit against him.’  
“Him?”  
“Loki.”   
Fin stood there for a moment, completely perplexed by his admission. “I thought he was a myth.’  
“Same could be said for blondie over there.” Tony remarked. “Well, this has been a hoot, but the adults have some work to get done.” He wandered off, leaving Fin to stand there and look around once more.   
“Your room is this way.” Natasha led her to a small space. “I know it’ll be cramped, but this is the best we can do.”  
“Is Clint ok?” Fin typed out, biting her bottom lip.  
Natasha cleared her throat. “I honestly don’t know.”   
Fin’s bottom lip quivered. She feared what he was going through without her. “I’m gonna get some rest.” She quickly laid down hoping Natasha would take the hint and leave.  
Natasha did, knowing Fin would be more helpful to them if she were calmer than she was. 

~~Interrogation~~

Fin walked into the room, taking the small metal bridge to the glass containment cell very carefully. She looked at the person in question. He was tall, taller than her and possibly anyone else here. His hair was an inky black color, his clothes were almost a shimmery emerald color, and he looked like he had been through a wringer. She pulled out her tablet and began taking notes.  
The man in question looked at her, his movements almost snake like. “Who are you?” He inquired looking at her.   
She looked up at him, ignoring anything he had said. She mapped out his speech patterns and the sound waves coming in.  
‘I don’t like people who stare.’ A voice filled her head. It was one that she had never even had in there before.   
Fin paled and looked at him, her heart rate starting to pick up.  
‘That got your attention.’ He looked at her, his smile reminiscent of a spider. ‘Have I got your attention?’  
Fin nodded, afraid to do anything else. “What do you want?” She typed, her hand shaking with every press of a key.   
“I want what every good historical figure wants, your world for my own.” He stepped closer to the glass, his shadow casting on her. “You look as if you’ve seen something scary. Do I scare you?”  
“Yes…” She blinked away a few tears.   
He got close enough to the glass to the point his breath was fogging it up slightly. “Don’t be scared, I have a few plans for you.” He whispered his voice soft and piercing. “You intrigue me little pixie.”   
“I am a human.” She typed.  
“I am aware of that. You’re smaller than me and I am not like the overgrown fawn of a brother I have.”   
“Where’s Clint?”  
“Hush, I have no need for you when you’re in hysterics.” He focused in on her.   
Fin looked into his eyes, paralyzed with fear, and seemingly hypnotized by the intensity of said eyes.   
‘Just watch me…’ He said in her mind once more. ‘Keep looking at me pixie.’   
Fin dropped her tablet onto her foot, the ‘Z’ key being pressed by the tip of her shoe. Something had changed in her and without anyone to stop her, she was a silent threat that was going to take everything down, including the carrier.


End file.
